Brooklyn, NY —The New York Liberty know they truly let one slip away leading by 14 in the second and 19 points in the third quarter, the Chicago Sky refuse to stop grinding resulting in a 86-82 comeback victory against the Liberty at the Barclays Center in front of an announced crowd of 7,225.
Chicago Sky Kahleah Copper poured in 27 points and Courtney Williams chipped in 12, including 10 points in the fourth quarter, to help the Sky rally pass the Libs.
The teams played Friday night in Chicago, with the Liberty rallying for a one-point win on a shot by Breanna Stewart with 7.1 ticks left.
“Hopefully this is a wake-up. Some players need to wake up a little bit more. We went away from what worked for us,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “Our shot profile was terrible. We don’t find ways to get Stewart touches. We just didn’t play tough enough. Disappointing, but the film won’t lie. So we’ve got to use it as a learning opportunity now.”
The Liberty took a 37-30 lead in the break and led by 19 early in the third, Chicago (4-3) took the lead for first time in the game on Courtney Williams’ jumper with 4:24 left in the game that made it 72-70.
A few seconds later, Williams drew an offensive foul on Stewart and after a challenge by New York (4-2) was denied and it went south for the Liberty from there.
Stewart went to work and scored the next six points for the Libs, tying the game at 76 with a little over two minutes left to go.
Williams drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:42 left.
Courtney Vandersloot’s bunny with 59 seconds left on the clock got the Liberty within two (80-78). Williams was fouled and hit one of two free throws to make it a three-point contest.
After a timeout, Sabrina Ionescu was charged with an offensive foul with 27 seconds left on the inbounds.
The Sky made four free throws in the final 17 seconds to ice the game. It was the second consecutive year that Chicago pulled off a late comeback. Last year, Chicago came back from 28 points to down the Las Vegas Aces, setting a WNBA record.
Stewart scored 20 points and 11 boards to lead the Liberty, which saw its four-game winning streak snapped.
