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BROOKLYN—Mercury was finally in retrograde for the New York Liberty this season.
A sterling showing from Sabrina Ionescu allowed the Liberty to finally get the best of Phoenix Mercury this season, as they took an 89-76 decision on Friday night at Barclays Center. It was the penultimate game of a season-long eight-game homestand and the Liberty’s fifth consecutive win to extend the WNBA’s longest active tally.
Ionescu scored 29 points on an 11-of-21 night from the field while dishing out eight assists. Hampered in the first two matchups due to injury, Jonquel Jones proved her impact with a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double.
New York (17-6) got back into the win column despite falling behind by as much as a dozen early on. Momentum began to flip when a Kahleah Copper drive created that fateful 12-point lead and a Liberty timeout. From there, the Liberty outscored the Mercury 19-7 over the final six-plus minutes, creating a tie game at the halftime horn.
From there, the Liberty cracked down defensively, allowing just 30 points in the second. That’s the second-fewest points a team has let up in any WNBA second half this season.
The Liberty wrap up this homestand on Saturday when they host a cross-coast clash with the Los Angeles Sparks (7 p.m. ET, My9).
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