The New York Liberty were scared by the Dallas Stars on Thursday night and narrowly avoided an upset with a 79-71 victory.
Dallas took a one-point lead with 6:47 left in the fourth quarter on a basket and a free throw by Arike Ogunbowale. New York responded with consecutive baskets by Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart to regain the lead and hold it until the final whistle.
Stewart scored the game’s most points with 19 points (9 of 11 free throws), making her the best of four Liberty players to score in double figures. She also had seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Kayla Thornton added 16 points, as did Leonie Fiebich with seven assists. Jones had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Thursday’s game was New York’s second straight home game against Dallas. The Liberty defeated the Wings 94-74 on Tuesday.
New York improved its record to 25–4, the best in the WNBA, while Dallas slipped to 6–23, the worst record in the league.
Ogunbowale scored 19 points with six rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocks. Natasha Howard scored 16 points and Teaira McCowan added 14. Both Howard and McCowan grabbed eight rebounds, while Satou Sabally contributed seven rebounds and five assists.
New York was without leading scorer Sabrina Ionescu, who missed her second straight game with a neck injury. Liberty coach Sandy Brondello described Ionescu’s injury as “Tightness” before Tuesday’s game. Her status for Thursday was not decided until during the game; the fifth-year guard did not participate in pregame warmups.
Ionescu averages 19.9 points per game, just slightly more than Stewart, the reigning WNBA MVP.
The Liberty next host the Connecticut Sun on Saturday in a matchup between the two teams with the best two records in the WNBA. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. ET. The Wings face the Los Angeles Sparks, who have the league’s worst record, on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.
