SPARKS LOSE FOURTH IN A ROW : SACRAMENTO 58, SPARKS 56.

Byline: Associated Press 

Latasha Byears scored 13 points, including the game-winning jumper with 11 seconds left, as the Sacramento Monarchs ended a five-game losing streak with a 58-56 victory over the Sparks on Tuesday night.

Byears also had 11 rebounds and her free throw with 2.8 seconds left accounted for the final margin. Tangela Smith had nine points and eight rebounds for the Monarchs (2-6), whose two victories this season are both over the Sparks.

Lisa Leslie scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Los Angeles (2-6), which lost its franchise-record fourth consecutive game.

Mwadi Mabika had 10 of her career-high 17 points in the first half for the Sparks, who also lost their fourth consecutive road game and committed a franchise-record 25 turnovers.

Sacramento hadn't won since its 73-69 victory at Los Angeles on June 16.

Sacramento, the league's lowest-scoring team, trailed throughout the second half until Franthea Price's 3-pointer with 3:58 left gave the Monarchs a 52-50 lead.

Leslie, the WNBA's second-leading scorer, then scored the Sparks' next six points. Her two free throws with 28 seconds left gave the Sparks their final lead, 56-55.

Los Angeles, which led by as many as seven points in the first half, led 35-29 at halftime.

Ruthie Bolton-Holifield, the Monarchs' leading scorer, missed her third straight game and first since undergoing knee surgery Monday.