The New York Liberty received a scare on Thursday night against the Dallas Stars, who barely 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 free throw by Arike Ogunbowale. New York responded with back-to-back baskets by Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart to regain the lead and hold it for the remainder of the game.
Stewart scored a game-high 19 points (she made 9 of 11 free throws), which led her in scoring with four Liberty players 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 scored 13 points with 13 rebounds.
Thursday’s game was New York’s second straight home game against Dallas. On Tuesday, the Liberty defeated the Wings 94-74.
New York improved to a WNBA-best 25-4, while Dallas fell to 6-23, tied for the worst 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. Howard and McCowan each grabbed eight rebounds, and Satou Sabally added seven with five assists.
New York was without leading scorer Sabrina Ionescu, who missed her second straight game with a neck injury. Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello described Ionescu’s injury as “oppression“before Tuesday’s game. His status for Thursday was a last-minute decision; the fifth-year point guard did not participate in pregame warmups.
Ionescu is averaging 19.9 points per game, just slightly more than Stewart, the reigning WNBA MVP.
The Liberty’s next game will be against the Connecticut Sun on Saturday, in a matchup between the two teams with the best records in the WNBA. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. The Wings will face the Los Angeles Sparks, who share the worst record in the league, on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET.