Jonquel Jones had 27 points with 11 rebounds and Breanna Stewart added 24 points and 10 boards as the visiting New York Liberty beat the short-handed Washington Mystics 96-87 on Friday night.
Sabrina Ionescu had 16 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Liberty (15-5), who shot 47.3 percent and made 11 3-pointers to win for the fifth time in six games. New York survived committing 18 turnovers and Washington making 10 of 23 shots from beyond the arc.
Brittney Sykes had 29 points and 10 rebounds for the Mystics (11-10), who played without injured star Elena Delle Donne (ankle), plus key contributors Ariel Atkins (ankle), Shakira Austin (hip) and Kristi Toliver (plantar fasciitis).
Washington, which has lost six of nine, trailed 73-56 late in the third quarter, but Tianna Hawkins (14 points) scored the final five points of that period, and Washington dropped the first nine of the fourth to get within three.
New York used a 6-0 run to make it 81-72. Ionescu found Stewart, who scored 18 in the second half, for an open layup with 6:15 to play to take control for good.
Even without their important performers, the Mystics jumped out to a 10-2 lead, highlighted by two 3-pointers from Sykes. However, Jones and Ionescu totaled all but two of the Liberty’s 27 first-quarter points, and New York used a 19-2 run — with Jones scoring 13 during the spurt — to lead 21-12.
New York led 27-20 entering the second quarter, where it scored the first seven points. A Jones bucket gave the Liberty a 42-27 edge with 5:16 remaining in the half, but two more 3s from Sykes highlighted a 12-2 surge from Washington that made it a five-point contest with 2:22 before the break.
The Liberty, though, scored six of the half’s final eight points to lead 50-41 at intermission. Jones led all scorers with 19 points in the half, while Sykes had 18 for Washington.
New York led 57-48 early in the third when Stewart scored 11 of the game’s next 14 points to put the visitors up by 17.
–Field Level Media
