Brooklyn, NY—The New York Liberty looked like they were sleep walking in the first half at the Barclays Center. But that is the advantage of having a veteran team, they know how to weather the storm.
Breanna Stewart poured in 22 points, Sabrina Ionescu chipped in 12, 12 boards and 12 assists for her fourth career triple-double and the New York Liberty (17-5) came back from 18-point second-half deficit to defeat the Seattle Storm 86-82 on Tuesday night in front of announce crowd of 6,118 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
In the end of the first quarter, the Libs were down 26-21 even though the Libs were down by five, the looked disjointed at the perimeter leaving LLoyd and company open.
Jewell Loyd scored 22 of her 32 points in the first half for Seattle (4-19), which has lost a franchise-worst 10 straight games.
Loyd, who scored 12 points in each of her past two games, made five treys to lead Seattle with a 45-35 advantage at the break. The Libs adjusted in the second half and Loyd didn’t score a basket in the second half until the closing seconds of the fourth quarter.
The Liberty were down 55-37 with 5:55 left in the third quarter. The surging Libs scored 11 straight points during a 15-2 run to inch to 57-52 after deep 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions by Courtney Vandersloot and Betnijah Laney.
Stewart sank a jumper from the free-throw line with 2:52 remaining in the fourth to give New York its first lead, 74-72, since it was 30-28 in the first half. Sami Whitcomb answered at the other end with Seattle’s 10th 3-pointer.
The Liberty finished on 40% (32-80) shooting from the field, 28.6% (10-35) from three, and 85.7% (12-14) at the free throw line.
Laney finished the game with 19 points and Jonquel Jones had 13 points and 17 boards for New York. Ionescu cooled off in the second half going 2 of 14 from the court, but made all six free throws to help secure her first triple-double of the year.
Ezi Magbegor scored 22 points, 12 boards along with five assists and Whitcomb, in her second straight start, added 11 points. Rookie Jordan Horston did not play due to personal reasons.
The Liberty’s 32-point fourth quarter outburst marked a season-high in fourth-quarter scoring.
Up Next: The New York Liberty will host the Atlanta Dream on Thursday, July 27 at 7 p.m. ET.
