NEW YORK (AP) Sabrina Ionescu Earned 24 points, Kayla Thornton He added 20 points and the New York Liberty used a late scoring surge to beat the Washington Mystics 90-79 on Friday night.
Breanna Stewart He recorded 18 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists. Jonquel Jones The Liberty (6-2) had 16 points. Every starter for New York played at least 30 minutes and combined for 86 points.
The Mystics led twice in the game, both times in the fourth quarter. Aaliyah Edwards Five minutes into the fourth, the Mystics led 75-74. Soon after, the Mystics were called for a technical foul for delay of play and Breanna Stewart made two free throws to give New York the lead.
Washington didn’t score for 2 1/2 minutes, New York added two 3-pointers and the Liberty made six free throws in the final 90 seconds to seal the victory.
Ariel Atkins Earn 15 points, Shakira Austin 12. Myisha Hines Allen 11 and Jade Melbourne He also scored 11 points against Washington (0-8).
Thornton’s 3-pointer gave Liberty its largest lead of the third quarter, 64-56 with about four minutes left, before Atkins drained a 3-pointer and then made one of two free throws to make it 64-60.
The Mystics trailed 64-62 before Jones hit a 3-pointer for New York, but Washington Julie VanLu He made a 3-pointer with five seconds left to make it 70-67 heading into the final period.
Liberty led 46-32 with about three minutes left in the first half, but a 3-pointer from Hines-Allen started a run of eight straight points for the Mystics. Hines-Allen followed that with a step-up layup and VanLuh also made a 3-pointer to make it 46-40.
Hines-Allen made two free throws with 17 seconds left to put Washington up 49-45 at halftime. She came off the bench in the first half and had nine points, four rebounds and two assists. Liberty made 11 of 19 field goals and scored 32 points in the first quarter. Ionescu scored 15 points in the quarter and made three 3-pointers.
