In a battle of the WNBA’s top two teams, two reserve players made the difference as the Connecticut Sun knocked off the New York Liberty 72-64 in Brooklyn on Saturday night.
Marina Mabrey scored a team-high 15 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa added another 12 for the second-place Sun (22-7), who won their straight game overall and first in three meetings with the Liberty.
With Connecticut playing the second night of a back-to-back, its bench outscored New York’s 29-6.
DiJonai Carrington finished with 13 points, and DeWanna Bonner registered 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Sun, who scored 10 straight points to take a six-point lead with 5:44 left in the second quarter. They never trailed again and led by as many 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Reigning MVP Breanna Stewart racked up 15 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals for New York. Rookie Leonie Fiebich added 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including nailing both of her 3-point attempts, and Sabrina Ionescu chipped in 12 points.
The first-place Liberty (25-5) had 19 turnovers, which the Sun converted into 21 points.
New York started out hot, leading by eight points several times in the first quarter.
Nelson-Ododa turned two layups into three-point plays in the game’s first 11 minutes, creating momentum for the Sun.
New York tried to rally in the third quarter, going on a seven-point run. Fiebich did all of the scoring in the burst, which started with a 3-pointer.
The All-Star Ionescu was back after missing two games with a neck injury and scored seven points short of her season average.
–Field Level Media
