HOUSTON - Lisa Leslie scored 16 points and led the Los Angeles Sparks to their first regular-season sweep over the Houston Comets with a 56-52 win on Tuesday.

Leslie scored 13 points in the second half and added 13 rebounds for her league-leading 14th double-double of the season.

Chamique Holdsclaw came off the bench and added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Sparks, who are 3-0 against Houston this season and lead the Comets by 6 1/2 games in the Western Conference.

Sheryl Swoopes scored 15 points for the Comets, who lost at home for just the third time this season. Playing without injured starters Dominique Canty and Tina Thompson, the Comets fell to 1-6 in their last seven games overall.

Los Angeles took the lead for good with 3:53 left in the game when Holdsclaw made a layup to make it 48-46.

Houston had two chances to tie the game with a 3-pointer with less than 15 seconds left in the game, but Dawn Staley and Swoopes missed badly in the Comets' final possession.

The Comets raced out to a 12-3 lead in the first five minutes of the game led by Swoopes' four points. Swoopes hit a 16-foot jump shot and started a 6-0 run that was capped by a driving layup by Staley.

Houston had a 27-21 lead at halftime despite being outrebounded 23-15 by the Sparks.