Sabrina Ionescu poured in 34 points and the New York Liberty outlasted the Indiana Fever 95-87 in overtime on Wednesday in Indianapolis after blowing an 18-point fourth-quarter lead.
Ionescu shot 9-for-18 from the floor, including 7-for-14 from 3-point range, and made all nine of her free throws for New York (14-4), who went the final 7:27 of regulation without a field goal.
Indiana rookie and All-Star starter Aliyah Boston punctuated a furious 24-6 Fever surge with a long 3-pointer at the buzzer that sent the game to overtime tied at 80.
Ionescu began the extra session with her sixth 3-pointer, which snapped New York’s 7:38 field-goal drought, only for Grace Berger to respond two minutes later with her own 3-pointer that beat the shot clock buzzer and evened the score at 85 with 2:40 to play.
Betnijah Laney and Ionescu sandwiched a pair of triples within a 30-second span around Boston’s layup to give New York a 91-87 cushion with 1:22 remaining. Breanna Stewart and Ionescu both tacked on a pair of free throws to provide the final margin as Indiana missed its final three shots.
Stewart chipped in 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Liberty, while Jonquel Jones scored 12 points and Laney finished with 10.
Boston paced the Fever (5-15) with 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Kelsey Mitchell added 16 points. Emma Cannon sparked Indiana with 19 points off the bench, including 15 after halftime, and Berger contributed a career-high 15 points off the bench as well.
The Liberty finished 12 of 36 from 3-point range, while the Fever made just 6 of 21 attempts beyond the arc. New York outrebounded the Fever 47-40 but committed 22 turnovers to Indiana’s 14.
The Liberty blitzed Indiana to begin the second half, scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter to mount a commanding 58-41 advantage with 8:16 to play in the period.
The Liberty limited the Fever to 15 points in the second quarter to lead 48-41 at the break.
With the win, New York clinched the Eastern Conference’s spot in the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship. They’ll face the Las Vegas Aces, last season’s Commissioner’s Cup winner, for the title on Aug. 15 in Las Vegas.
Indiana, meanwhile, slumps into the All-Star break with an eight-game losing streak.
–Field Level Media
