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After nearly three decades at the collegiate level, Lynne Roberts decided to make the jump to the WNBA, and in November accepted an offer to become the Los Angeles Sparks' newest coach -- their third in the last four seasons. Her task was clear: turn the once-proud franchise around. 

The Sparks have not made the playoffs since 2020, which is not only the longest postseason drought in franchise history, but the longest active one in the league. Last season was a new low. They recorded the fewest wins in a season in franchise history and finished in last place at 8-32. 

Roberts was not brought in to lead a rebuild, however. In another major move during the offseason, the Sparks traded the No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft for Kelsey Plum. Neither the front office nor Roberts were shy about their goals heading into the season.   

"I want to make the playoffs," Roberts said. "I want to, and I think with the roster we have, we can. Is it going to be hard? Yeah. Climbing is hard. Changing things is hard.

"But that's where that process comes in, and being consistent, how I show up every day, showing up the same whether we win by 20 or lose by 20, that stuff all adds up and my expectation is for the players to learn how to do that, too. And, it's the chop a tree down analogy. You don't do it in one swing. You just keep chopping and then it falls. And so my end goal is that we make the playoffs."

After a 6-14 start, it appeared that going from last place to the playoffs in one season was an even harder change than Roberts anticipated. But the Sparks quietly won their last two games before the All-Star break, and on Saturday stunned the reigning champion New York Liberty on a Rickea Jackson buzzer-beater to extend their winning streak to five games. 

Though still 11-14, the Sparks have pulled within one game of the eighth-place Washington Mystics and 1.5 games of the seventh-place Las Vegas Aces. They quietly have the fifth-best offensive rating (104.7) in the league, Cameron Brink is closing in on a return and they have the fifth-easiest remaining schedule. 

The Sparks still have a lot of work to do, but all of a sudden making the playoffs doesn't seem that unrealistic. 

"Part of learning to win is learning to just stay steady, and not get too high or too low or panic. And we didn't," Roberts said after beating the Liberty. "New York was coming at us... I'm just proud of these guys' resilience. They're buying in and they're figuring it out and I have so much trust in them."

Here are CBS Sports' latest WNBA Power Rankings.

WNBA Power Rankings
1
Lynx
The Lynx's loss to the Dream on Sunday ended a 14-0 start at the Target Center, which was the fourth-longest home winning streak to start a season in league history. It's impossible to fake your way to a 22-5 record, but it will be interesting to see how the Lynx fare as their schedule gets tougher. They are in the midst of a stretch where they'll play 13 consecutive games against teams in playoff position, including four Finals rematches against the Liberty.
2
Liberty
The Liberty's five-game winning streak came to an end in heartbreaking fashion when the Sparks' Rickea Jackson flipped in a wild buzzer-beater. Breanna Stewart left that game with a right leg injury, but has avoided a serious injury and will travel on their upcoming road trip, according to the New York Post. That's great news for the Liberty, but the team will likely be cautious with her return, especially with Emma Meesseman expected to arrive soon.
3
Dream
The Dream ended the first half of the season and began the second half on three-game road trips. When they return to Atlanta for their first home game since July 8, they'll do so with plenty of momentum after huge wins in Phoenix and Minnesota -- the latter of which ended the Lynx's perfect 14-0 home start. The Dream skidded into the All-Star break, but back-to-back wins over the Mercury and Lynx were a reminder that they can play with, and beat, anyone in the league.
4
Fever
Caitlin Clark underwent further evaluations on her groin injury in New York which revealed no further damage, but she remains sidelined without a return date. Despite her absence, the Fever closed the week with two wins over the Aces and Sky to climb into sixth place and gain some much-needed breathing room in the playoff picture. Kelsey Mitchell poured in season-high 35 points against the Sky and now has four 35-point games, which is tied for ninth all-time.
5
Mercury
After a season-long three-game losing streak on either side of the All-Star break, the Mercury got a much-needed win Sunday against the Mystics. Alyssa Thomas went off for 27 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in that victory to continue her incredible season. She's putting up 15.7 points, eight rebounds and 9.4 assists on 52.7% shooting. If she maintains that pace she'll join Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, LeBron James and Nikola Jokic as the only players in NBA or WNBA history to average at least 15/8/9 on 50% shooting or better for a season.
6
Storm
Early in the season, the Storm's inconsistency took the shape of long winning and losing streaks. Now, they're just alternating results and haven't won or lost consecutive games since July 3 and 6. Their offense has quietly slipped to ninth in the league (101.0 offensive rating) due to a brutal July. Skylar Diggins, Gabby Williams and Erica Wheeler, who had such great starts to the season, are averaging a combined 34.9 points on 37.2% shooting this month.
7
Sparks
Rickea Jackson's absurd buzzer beater to stun the Liberty at Barclays Center extended the Sparks' season-best winning streak to five games and continued her mid-season resurgence. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft got off to a rough start in her sophomore campaign, but is averaging 18.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists on 50% shooting during the winning streak. All of a sudden, the Sparks are just 1.5 games back of the eighth and final playoff spot.
8
Aces
Becky Hammon finally moved Jewell Loyd to the bench after she went scoreless on 0 of 10 shooting in the Aces' 31-point loss to the Lynx -- their worst defeat since 2023. Loyd responded with 20 points on 6 of 11 in a blowout win over the Wings. That was just the fourth 20-point game this season for the former scoring champ, who is averaging 10.8 points on 37.1% from the field. The Aces desperately need more from Loyd down the stretch.
9
Mystics
The Mystics did pick up a nice win over the Storm on Saturday, but have lost three of their last four games on either side of the All-Star break to fall back under .500. That, combined with the Sparks' hot streak has left them clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot. After making history by scoring in double figures in each of the first 10 games of her career, Kiki Iriafen appears to have hit the rookie wall. She's averaging 8.9 points on 37% shooting in her last 10 outings.
10
Valkyries
The Valkyries' first week back from the All-Star break ended in devastating fashion. First-time All-Star Kayla Thornton went down with a season-ending knee injury and they lost by 31 to the last-place Sun. If Sunday's blowout loss was any indication, the Valkyries are going to have a hard time hanging around in the playoff race without Thornton, who was leading the team in both scoring and rebounding.
11
Wings
The Wings destroyed the Storm on the road to begin the week, then promptly lost two more games by double digits. Paige Bueckers' "rest" designation against the Aces raised some eyebrows, but the No. 1 overall pick has been dealing with patellar tendinitis and the Wings are in the middle of what coach Chris Koclanes called an "insane stretch" of their schedule: five games in eight days. There's no need to push it with Buecker's knee, especially given her injury history and the Wings' 7-19 record.
12
Sun
The big news out of Uncasville this week was the Sun confirming that the team will remain at Mohegan Sun through at least the 2026 season amid rumors about a potential sale. On the court, the Sun snapped a four-game losing streak with a 31-point win over the Valkyries; their first three wins this season were by a combined 20 points. Leila Lacan swiped six steals against the Valkyries, becoming the first rookie to achieve that feat since Angel McCoughtry in 2009.
13
Sky
The Sky's season has quickly gone from bad to worse out of the All-Star break. They're now on a season-worst five-game losing streak and all of those defeats have come by at least 13 points. Against the Fever, they only had eight available players due to myriad injuries, including a back issue for Angel Reese and a leg problem for Ariel Atkins. Without those two, in particular, the Sky have little hope of being competitive.