Sabrina Ionescu scored 11 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter as the host New York Liberty overcame a sluggish first half and beat the Chicago Sky 91-76 on Thursday night.
Ionescu missed her first seven shots and finished 7 of 17 from the field in front of the largest crowd (17,758) in team history. The guard also made four 3s after shooting 3 of 21 from behind the arc in New York’s previous two home games.
Breanna Stewart added 19 points as the Liberty (19-4) overcame a 13-point deficit in the first half and extended their home winning streak to nine. Jonquel Jones added 18 points and 13 rebounds while reserve Kayla Thornton scored 16 and Leonie Fiebich contributed 13 as the Liberty shot 47.6 percent and hit 13 of 23 3s.
Rookie Angel Reese collected 10 points and 10 rebounds to extend her WNBA-record streak to 15 straight double-doubles but Chicago (9-13) was unable to earn its second win this season in New York.
Chennedy Carter paced all scorers with 22 points and Marina Mabrey added 15 as the Sky shot 45.9 percent and scored 56 points in the paint.
After taking a one-point lead into the fourth, New York began to surge ahead midway through the period. Chicago got to within two following a 16-footer by Carter with 7:38 left but less than two minutes later, Thornton hit a 3 to give New York a 75-68 lead.
Ionescu hit a 3 to push the lead to 78-70 with 4:22 remaining and her 31-foot 3 extended the margin to 81-72 with 3:41 left before two free throws by Thornton made it 85-72 with 2:09 to go to essentially clinch the win.
Chicago held a 37-24 lead on a basket by Reese with six minutes left in the second quarter but was outscored 14-3 over the rest of the half and settled for a 40-38 lead at halftime on a basket by rookie Kamilla Cardoso with 41.6 seconds left.
Consecutive hoops by Isabelle Harrison gave Chicago a 53-48 lead with 5 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter but New York scored the next 11 points to take a 59-53 lead on Fiebich’s 3 with 2:49 left. Chicago evened the game at 62 on a basket by Reese with 50.9 seconds left but New York entered the fourth with a 63-62 lead following a free throw by Ionescu.
–Field Level Media
