Los Angeles - In a season filled with tough losses, the Connecticut Sun absorbed a crushing defeat Sunday afternoon as the Los Angeles Sparks scored five points in six seconds to complete a frantic rally, pulling out a 70-69 win at the Staples Center.

With the Sun leading 68-62 after a pair of Katie Douglas free throws with 29.8 seconds remaining, it looked as if Connecticut was about to score its second crucial road win in three days. The Sun won in San Antonio on Friday night.

But Alana Beard (18 points) gave the Sparks (13-15) life with a three-pointer from 24 feet away with 25 seconds left, and Los Angeles immediately fouled Renee Montgomery. The Sun point guard made one of two free throws, to push the Sun lead to 69-65 with 23.5 seconds left.

That's when it unraveled for Connecticut (11-18).

Following a 20-second timeout, Candace Parker scored on a turnaround hook shot to make it 69-67 with 15.3 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds, Nneka Ogwumike (17 points, 10 rebounds) stole a pass from Alyssa Thomas (11 points, eight rebounds) intended for younger sister Chiney Ogwumike. Kristi Toliver, who was scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting at that point, dropped a three with 9.6 seconds left to put the Sparks in front.

"I think most coaches come and think if you can hold Toliver to three and Parker to nine, you're going to win," Sun coach Anne Donovan said. "But give them credit. Other people stepped up and Toliver hit the one shot that mattered tonight."

Montgomery's final shot bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

"I think they all understand there were mistakes leading up to that, it's not just that one play," said Douglas, who had 15 points and four assists, of the lapses in the final seconds. "But we've got to do a better job in late-game situations. We keep saying details, and there are some details that we didn't take care of.''

The Sun trail fourth-place New York (12-15) by two games for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Connecticut has five games left in the regular season and New York has seven left to play.

In a game featuring 13 lead changes and four ties, Connecticut had made a number of key plays in the final three minutes to put itself in position to win.

With the game tied 60-60, Douglas rebounded her own missed three-point shot to make it 62-60. On the ensuing Sun possession, Chiney Ogwumike reached back for an extremely difficult offensive put-back in traffic that put Connecticut up 64-60 with under two minutes left. Later, free throws from Alyssa Thomas and Douglas made it 68-62 with under 30 seconds to go.

"I would have loved to win today and even it up," Chiney Ogwumike said when asked about playing against her sister for the second time this season. "But I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles."

Chiney Ogwumike (23 points, 13 rebounds) did her part, recorded the 13th double-double of her rookie season while reaching double figures for the 12th game in a row and the 27th time in 28 games. Following up on her performance in San Antonio (24 points, 12 rebounds), she finished the weekend 22 of 32 from the field, averaging 23.5 points and 12.5 rebounds.

Early on, Connecticut missed a chance to build on a hot start. After jumping out to a 10-4 lead, the Sun went nine minutes, 57 seconds without a field goal during a span from midway through the first quarter through the halfway point of the second quarter.

Despite that drought, the Sun were within 21-19 after Alyssa Thomas snapped the cold spell by converting a layup with 4:38 left in the half.

In the previous meeting between the teams, a similar rough patch doomed the Sun, who were outscored 30-10 while shooting just 23.8 percent (5 of 21) in the third quarter of what had been a closely contested game. Los Angeles built a 74-48 lead by the end of that quarter and cruised to an easy win.

This time, though, Connecticut stayed in the game with efficient defense.