LOS ANGELES — The Sparks were looking to achieve an important milestone before this weekend’s WNBA All-Star break — win two games in a row for the first time this season.

Dearica Hamby’s inspired play, which included scoring 10 straight points to close the second quarter, helped lead the Sparks to a 99-80 victory over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Hamby scored 18 of her game-high 26 points before halftime in the final game before the All-Star break for both teams. Rickea Jackson scored 22 points, Kelsey Plum had 20 points and six assists and Azurá Stevens added 15 points and eight rebounds. The quartet combined for 83 of the Sparks’ season-high 99 points.

The Sparks (8-14), who outscored Washington 33-12 in the second quarter, closed the first half on a 17-2 run over the final four minutes to reach their most points scored in any half this season at 59. Hamby’s 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer gave them a 25-point lead.

They finished the night with a season-high 58 points in the paint.

“We’ve talked about that a little bit,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said before the game. “This is a chance for us to get on a little streak but we know we have our hands full, too.”

The Sparks have already matched last season’s win total, when they went a league-worst 8-32 and missed the playoffs for a franchise-record fourth consecutive year.

Shakira Austin had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Washington (11-11), which saw its three-game win streak end. Sug Sutton added 14 points and Aaliyah Edwards scored 13. Brittney Sykes, Washington’s leading scorer (17.6 ppg), was held to eight points on 2-of-7 shooting.

The Sparks led 26-22 at the end of the first quarter with Plum, Hamby, Jackson and Stevens scoring all of the team’s points in the opening 10 minutes.

A Julie Allemand 3-pointer with 9:46 left in the second quarter was the first basket by another Spark and it gave her team a 29-22 lead. Allemand finished with 10 assists and just one turnover.