The New York Liberty had six players score in double figures, led by Betnijah Laney’s 19 points, in their 110-80 victory Friday over the host Atlanta Dream on Friday.
New York (8-3) has defeated Atlanta in two out of three meetings over past two weeks, with both of the wins occurring in Atlanta.
The Liberty’s 110 points were a season high, topping the team’s total from a 106-83 win at Atlanta on June 9.
The Dream (5-7) started a recent three-game winning streak by prevailing at New York on June 13. Atlanta has now lost its past two games while the Liberty have won four of five.
Jonquel Jones had 18 points and nine rebounds and Breanna Stewart contributed 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for the Liberty on Friday.
New York’s Marine Johannes added 18 points, Courtney Vandersloot finished with 16 points, 11 assists and a career-high seven steals, and Kayla Thornton had 10 points.
Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu, who sat the previous two games because of a hamstring injury, had eight points, six rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes.
New York finished with 29 assists and 15 turnovers. The Liberty also tallied 13 steals.
Atlanta was led by Rhyne Howard’s 24 points and a team-high six rebounds. Allisha Gray finished with 17 points, and Cheyenne Parker added 13 points.
New York started the game with a 10-2 lead and never trailed.
After Atlanta cut the deficit to 25-20 with 1:22 left in the first quarter, the Liberty scored 12 unanswered points to pull away.
Thornton’s consecutive 3-pointers gave New York a 37-20 lead with 8:26 left in the second quarter.
The Liberty led by as many as 23 points before taking a 59-40 lead into halftime.
Vandersloot had eight assists by the break. Jones had 15 points and five rebounds and Stewart had 11 points and four rebounds at that time.
Atlanta cut the gap to 72-57 with 4:49 left in the third quarter, but New York answered with an 11-3 run behind Laney’s seven points in that stretch.
New York led by at least 19 points throughout the fourth quarter.
–Field Level Media
