NEW YORK — Brianna Stewart’s 3-point play with 19.7 seconds remaining in overtime on Sunday gave the New York Liberty an 89-88 win over the Washington Mystics.
With 31 points from Sabrina Ionescu and 18 from Stewart, New York had 17 points in the first quarter and were trailing by eight with 2:28 left in regulation before Courtney Vandersloot’s Lay with two seconds left. The score was tied at up.
The two teams traded leads multiple times in extra time, but Natasha Cloud scored a three-point play with 1:59 left to make it 88-86. Neither team scored until Stewart drove down the lane, scored a basket and drew a foul with 19.7 seconds remaining.
She sank the free throw to give New York (9-3) the lead.
After a timeout, Washington (8-5) handed the ball to Elena delle Dan, who bounced the runner to the rim with just over five seconds remaining. The ball went out of bounds off Liberty, giving the Mystics one last chance. New York won as Maisha Hines-Allen’s second left shot missed.
Ariel Atkins led Washington with 24 points, while Cloud added 23 points and 11 assists.
The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Mystics, who lost forward Shakira Austin to a hip injury early in the fourth quarter.
Austin was injured just before Liberty took the sole lead. She tipped the pass near the middle of the court and dropped to the front of the Liberty bench. She lay on the court for several minutes before being carried to the locker room.
Washington jumped to New York early to score the first 13 points of the game. Liberty missed the first seven shots, but Betoniyah Rainey hit a reverse layup with 6:01 remaining in the quarter. Washington extended its lead to 17 during this time, and New York bounced back to within 27-17 at the end of the quarter.
The Liberty opened the attack in the second quarter behind Ionescu and Rainey and narrowed the lead to 45-39 in the first half. Stewart missed all seven field goal attempts in the first half. It’s only the third time in her career that she’s failed to make a field goal in the first half.
Shortly before the game, Stewart was named All-Star Game captain. It is the second year in a row that she holds the position.
