Leonie Fiebich returned from a seven-week injury absence to provide 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in 34 minutes, leading the host New York Liberty to a 109-102 win over the Indiana Fever on Saturday night.
The teams split their season series 2-2, with the home team winning every time.
New York (23-15) is 10-3 over its past 13 games.
Indiana (24-14), which made just 11 of 22 free throws, has lost two straight games.
Besides Fiebich, New York got 19 points and 10 rebounds from Jonquel Jones, who had suffered an ankle injury in the previous Liberty game. Breanna Stewart added 22 points, and Sabrina Ionescu had 12 points.
For Indiana, Kelsey Mitchell scored 25 points. It was her 22nd consecutive game scoring 20 or more points, extending her NBA record.
Caitlin Clark, who entered the game tops in the league in assists and third in scoring, had 21 points and seven helpers. Aliyah Boston added 22 points.
New York led 33-26 after a first quarter during which the Liberty shot 65.0% from the floor. Indiana shot 58.8% and got nine points from Mitchell.
New York, which had a nine-point advantage early in the second period, settled for a 53-49 lead at halftime.
Both teams shot better than 50% for the first half, but the Liberty had a 30-22 edge in paint points. Jones led all first-half scorers with 17 points, and Stewart added 11. For Indiana, Mitchell had 13, and Clark had 10.
In the third quarter, New York stretched its lead to 85-78. Fiebich had nine points in that period.
Mitchell’s 3-pointer with 1:44 left in the fourth tied the score 100-100.
From there, a Stewart free throw and a Fiebich drive gave New York a 103-100 lead with 58 seconds left.
After Clark missed a short bank shot, Pauline Astier was fouled with 29 seconds left, and she made both free throws.
Clark then missed two free throws, sealing Indiana’s fate.
For the game, both teams shot 57% or better from the floor. But New York won the game by making 24 of 29 free throws.
–Field Level Media
