(Photo credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images)

To move closer to playoff contention, the Los Angeles Sparks need to pick up the pace on defense when they host the flagging Dallas Wings on Wednesday.

The teams have played twice this season with the Sparks winning both, including a 97-96 victory over the Wings on Friday in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Los Angeles (16-18) has alternated losses and victories over its past five games and heads home after a 95-86 defeat Sunday at Washington. Dearica Hamby paced the Sparks with 26 points, with Kelsey Plum scoring 25, Rickea Jackson adding 17 points and Rae Burrell hitting for 10 points off the bench.

The Sparks were outrebounded 35-15 in the loss to Washington, with no Los Angeles player having more than four boards. Los Angeles surrenders the most points per game in the league at 88.8 -- the Wings are second in allowing 87.3 points per game.

'I think we show flashes where we are good defensively, but we don't always,' said Sparks guard Azura Stevens. 'It's not always consistent. So I think the next step for us is being more consistent, consistent for 30 minutes.'

The Wings (9-26) have dropped two in a row and seven of their past eight games, the most recent a 106-87 setback Sunday in Las Vegas. Maddie Siegrist led Dallas with a career-high 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting while rookie star guard Paige Bueckers added 18 points. Arike Ogunbowale (right knee soreness) missed her third straight game for the Wings.

'Next-woman-up mentality,' said Dallas coach Chris Koclanes. 'It's a group effort: gang rebounding, boxing out, guards helping. Regardless of who's missing, we have to keep playing inside-out.'

It was the second straight game Dallas trailed from tipoff to the final buzzer. The Wings shot just 18 percent (3 of 17) from beyond the arc.

'Nobody can replace Arike, so everybody just has to step up and do a little bit more,' Bueckers said. 'It's really been a team effort to try to make up for her absence.'

Wednesday's contest is the first of six games in an 11-day stretch for the Wings.

--Field Level Media