Christmas Scores Career-High 24, Leads Shock Past Sparks

Karima Christmas scored a career-high 24 points and Odyssey Sims returned from an 11-game absence due to a knee injury to help the Tulsa Shock beat the Los Angeles Sparks 82-67 on Saturday night.

Sims added 14 points while playing in her first game since June 9 when she injured her left knee. Sims played 24 minutes and provided a boost for the Shock, who were thin at guard with the loss of Skylar Diggins for the season with a torn ACL.

The Shock (10-4) pulled away with a 13-4 run capped by Christmas' free throw with 3:15 left that made it 74-60.

Brianna Kiesel and Vicki Baugh each added 10 points for Tulsa, which won its second straight after a three-game losing streak that included a 98-95 loss to Los Angeles on July 3.

Nneka Ogwumike had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Sparks (2-10), and Jantel Lavender added 14 and 11. Los Angeles opened the game with a 12-4 run and never trailed in the first quarter, but the Shock took the lead for good with a 14-2 run to open the second.

The Shock improved to 6-0 at home while the Sparks fell to 0-6 on the road.