Sabrina Ionescu drove for a go-ahead layup with 10.3 seconds left and Jonquel Jones scored 19 points as the New York Liberty edged the host Chicago Sky 96-95 on Wednesday to earn their eighth straight victory.
Breanna Stewart and Satou Sabally both added 17 points for the Liberty, while Rebekah Gardner and Ionescu each had 10.
Sydney Taylor drilled a 3-pointer to put the Sky ahead 95-94 with 15.6 seconds left but Ionescu and the Liberty calmly answered. After Ionescu’s bucket, Taylor missed an 11-foot jumper at the buzzer.
New York (11-4, 6-0 Commissioner’s Cup) entered play having already secured a spot in the championship game of the WNBA midseason tournament. The Liberty sealed their status as the only team to go unblemished in Commissioner’s Cup action behind 50% shooting from the field and a plus-six advantage under the boards.
Jones snagged a game-high eight rebounds.
Taylor (24 points) and Gabriela Jaquez (career-high 22) led five Sky players in double figures. Skylar Diggins was next with 19, while Natasha Cloud (11) and Kamilla Cardoso (10) followed.
Chicago (4-10, 1-5) led by 15 less than six minutes into the game, then faded before trading blows with the Liberty down the stretch in a game that featured 15 lead changes. The Sky have lost nine of their past 10 games.
Ionescu swished a 3-pointer to give New York a 92-89 lead with 2:31 remaining to set up the wild finish. The Liberty’s largest lead was six.
Diggins had eight assists while Azura Stevens led Chicago with six rebounds.
Sparked by a hot start from the field, the Sky raced to a 26-11 advantage after just 5:42. Cloud connected from long range to give Chicago its largest advantage of the game, part of the team’s 5-for-8 effort from deep in the first quarter.
New York regrouped, however. Leonie Fiebich (nine points) swished a pair of free throws at the 6:17 mark of the second quarter to cap an 18-6 Liberty run that gave the visitors a 33-32 lead.
Chicago went ahead by a basket on a Cardoso layup with 1:06 left before the break before New York responded to take a 47-45 lead into intermission.
Sabally, Stewart and Taylor each scored 13 points in the first half.
New York’s Betnijah Laney-Hamilton missed the game due to left knee injury management.
–Field Level Media
