Marie Ferdinand-Harris scores 15 points to lift short-handed Sparks to 82-55 win over Storm

Ferdinand-Harris helps Sparks cruise past Storm

LOS ANGELES — Marie Ferdinand-Harris scored a season-high 15 points to lift the short-handed Sparks to an 82-55 victory against the Seattle Storm on Sunday night.

Playing their third game without injured three-time league MVP Lisa Leslie, five players scored in double figures for Sparks (3-5). Betty Lennox had 14 points, Vanessa Hayden scored 12, DeLisha Milton-Jones 11 and Noelle Quinn 10 for the Sparks. Shannon Bobbitt had a season-high eight assists.

Leslie is out with a severely sprained right knee and is expected to miss about six games. Los Angeles is also still without reigning MVP and Rookie of the Year Candace Parker, who is recovering after giving birth last month.

Lauren Jackson, who scored a season-high 32 points in a win at home against the Sparks on Friday night, was held to nine points on 3-of-10 shooting for Seattle (6-3). Camille Little also had nine points for the Storm, who didn’t have a single player score in double digits.

The Sparks made a season-high 19 free throws and had a season-high 23 assists. They held the Storm to a season-low in points and forced them to commit a season-high 22 turnovers.

The Storm pulled within 10 points several times in the third quarter, but the Sparks answered each time.

After Swin Cash’s layup cut the Sparks’ lead to 53-43 with 4:06 left in the period, the Sparks scored six straight points.

The Storm then scored just two more points the rest of the quarter and the Sparks made six free throws en route to a 67-45 lead heading into the fourth.

The Sparks used an aggressive defensive effort and outhustled the Storm in the second quarter to take a 41-30 halftime lead. Seattle committed five turnovers in the period including three shot-clock violations and had 11 miscues in the first half.

Trailing 20-15, the Sparks made three 3-pointers during a 13-0 run capped by Hayden’s jumper at the elbow for a 28-20 advantage. The Sparks held the Storm scoreless for 4:25 seconds during that span until Jackson made two free throws with 5:35 before the break.