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INGLEWOOD, California (Ticker) -- All-Star Lisa Leslie and Tamecka Dixon made sure there would not be another letdown by the Los Angeles Sparks. Leslie scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Dixon made a pair of free throws with 1.3 seconds remaining as the Sparks pulled out a 58-57 victory over the struggling Minnesota Lynx. Los Angeles came into tonight's contest on the emotional high of Friday's victory over three-time WNBA champion Houston in which it trailed by 15 points in the second half. That was preceded by a loss to the expansion Portland Fire, Los Angeles' first at home this season. It almost appeared that Los Angeles was going to head down the same path as it did against Portland. Leslie hit a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left to give the Sparks a 56-55 lead but Betty Lennox gave the Lynx a one-point lead with 6.9 seconds to go with a 19-foot jumper from the left side. After Los Angeles called a 20-second timeout, Dixon went up for a shot and was fouled in the lane by Maylana Martin, sending her to the line. Dixon calmly buried both shots to put the Sparks ahead. All-Star Mwadi Mabika made sure the Lynx would not get off a shot before the buzzer by stealing a pass from Kate Paye. "I really didn't think about it much," Dixon said. "I just cleared my mind and shot the ball." "This was a very tough way to lose the game," Minnesota coach Brian Agler said. "(If I were to express) my reactions, it would cost me money. I don't feel like getting fined." Free throws were the difference down the stretch. The Sparks were 16-of-16 from the line overall and sank eight in the final 9 1/2 minutes, when they were held without a basket. Lennox scored 21 points for Minnesota, which stumbles into the All-Star break with six consecutive losses. "Any game like this is a tough loss for us," Lennox said. "We came out with good tempo. The game went their way at the end and we kind of folded at the end. We deserve a couple of days off, it gives us time to thing and recuperate." The Lynx fell behind by as many as nine points late in the first half, but used an 8-0 burst to close the period trailing by one, 26-25, at the intermission. Lennox erased a one-point lead with a 3-pointer that gave Minnesota a 40-38 advantage with 13:10 remaining. But Leslie quickly tied the game with a layup on the next possession and ignited a 12-2 burst that gave Los Angeles a 50-42 lead midway through the second half. "We played really hard, both teams and they really tried to take away our inside game," Leslie said. "A lot of our outside shots weren't falling like normal so we just had to get down and dirty and work hard. I just tried to be more aggressive and go hard to the basket and either make a bucket or get fouled." The Sparks have won five straight against the Lynx and head into the All-Star break with victories in 14 of their last 15 games at the Great Western Forum. "If I had to grade it A, B, C or D, I think we're about an 'A,'" Los Angeles coach Michael Cooper said. "I thought we played extremely well. These last two games were very important not only to send a message to us that we can compete and contend in this league, but to others as well."
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