Liberty Downed in the Desert By Mercury
Scorching shooting that served as a taste of their own medicine doomed the New York Liberty in the desert.
The Phoenix Mercury used a barrage of three-pointers to take deal the Liberty its fourth loss in the last six games, as an offensive showcase paved the way to a 106-91 victory at PHX Arena. Phoenix registered its second win over New York In eight days, having previously prevailed at Barclays Center last week.
Having stretched its WNBA-best winning streak to six games, the Mercury (12-4) sank a franchise-record 18 three-points, a dozen alone coming from the arms of either Satou Sabally or former New Yorker Sami Whitcomb. It was one short of the WNBA single-game record that the Liberty have set twice this season.
Phoenix did set another brand of history despite coming one short of the Liberty's marks: combined with the 17 they sank in Saturday's win over Chicago, the Mercury put up the best two-game three-point tally in WNBA history. The Mercury also set their franchise record with 30 assists, half dealt from Alyssa Thomas, who fell one rebound short of extending her WNBA record in triple-doubles (currently stationed at 11 after she was removed from the one-sided affair late).
Once again missing Leonie Fiebich and Jonquel Jones—and Sabrina Ionescu (2-of-9 from the field despite seven assists) not 100 percent due to a nagging neck injury—the Liberty (11-4) never led after Phoenix immediate responded to their game-opening basket. Breanna Stewart led the way for New York with 17 points, making a bit of history on an otherwise dire evening by becoming the eighth player to reach 2,000 points in a Liberty uniform.
Facing off against her older sister, Nyara Sabally put up a career-best 16 points in defeat. Six different New Yorkers reached double figures, including three reserves, as the Liberty surpassed their season-best in bench scoring again with 33 tallies in relief.
Beyond that, however the Liberty dealt with a drowsy defensive effort that negated a strong shooting night, one that saw them shoot just over 50 percent from the field and get to the foul line on 25 occasions. Granted entry into the lane and space at the top of the key, Phoenix had an answer to every Liberty rally after going up by as much as 19 in the opening half, seeing their gap narrowed to as little as seven in the third quarter before another barrage from deep helped them pull away for good.
Having bestowed the Liberty half of their fourth losses so far this season, Phoenix will be back in Brooklyn on July 25. In the meantime, the Liberty closes what's been an arduous road trip on Sunday afternoon when it faces the Atlanta Dream (3 p.m. ET, WWOR).
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.