LOS ANGELES (AP) The Los Angeles Sparks let another opponent back into a game. This time, they won.

Lisa Leslie hit two free throws to snap a tie with 1:38 remaining and Los Angeles escaped with a 90-86 victory over the Utah Starzz on Sunday night, ending a two-game losing streak at Staples Center.

"It's one to put in the win column, that's it," Sparks coach Michael Cooper said. "Other than that, there's nothing we can be happy about."

Earlier in the season, the Sparks had a 16-point lead over Houston only to lose. They'll play the Comets on Thursday at Staples.

"We get complacent sometimes when we have a big lead," Cooper said. "We need to get that killer instinct and learn to put teams away."

Utah dropped to 1-10 in Los Angeles, and failed to clinch a WNBA playoff berth despite leading by six points with six minutes remaining against the defending champions.

"We committed to the defensive end and played with a lot of energy," Utah coach Candi Harvey said. "We should have taken this one."

Leslie finished with 26 points, and shot 15-of-19 from the free-throw line. She scored five points in the final 2:12.

"It's a win and we'll take it," Leslie said. "Our first half was almost perfect and they came back fighting. For a second, we took a step back until we decided we were going to fight back."

Mwadi Mabika added 25 points, including a 3-pointer that gave the Sparks their first lead, 82-81, since early in the second half.

"I wanted to step up so bad when we needed it," Mabika said. "We thought it was going to come easy because the first half was so easy."

Marie Ferdinand led Utah with 25 points. Semeka Randall added 15 points as the Starzz lost their third in a row on the road.

Leslie made four consecutive free throws to give the Sparks an 87-83 lead with 49 seconds left. But Jennifer Azzi hit a 3-pointer to draw the Starzz within one.

With the shot clock winding down, Mabika tossed up a 3-point attempt that missed, but LaTasha Byears grabbed the ball and scored underneath as the clock expired for an 89-86 lead.

Two minutes into the second half, the Sparks lost forward DeLisha Milton, who sustained a bruised right knee and didn't return.

"It was a loose rebound and I went to try to get it," Milton said. "I don't know who collided with me, but my leg was in a straight position and when someone hit it, it did a twist action on the inside. The good thing about it is, the more the game progressed, the better I felt."

The Sparks, playing for the second time in as many days, blew a 17-point lead in the first half. Randall hit a running jumper at the first half buzzer, signaling the start of Utah's comeback.

The Starzz opened the second half with a 20-5 run to take a 63-60 lead. They opened up a five-point lead on Azzi's 3-pointer with 9:23 remaining.

Ferdinand's basket kept Utah ahead, 78-72, with six minutes to go. But Los Angeles closed the game on an 18-8 run.

"We don't have their athleticism and we have to keep defensive pressure on them all the time," said Utah's Natalie Williams, who fouled out with 13 points. "They are too quick."

Margo Dydek, Utah's 7-foot center, had averaged 24 points and 13.5 rebounds in her last two games, but was held to six points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes.

Los Angeles improved to 3-0 against Utah this season.

The Sparks increased their Western Conference lead over second-place Houston to one game, and four games over third-place Utah.

"We have to finally come together and put 40 minutes of basketball together," Milton said, "so we can have these convincing wins that we used to have last year."

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