Liberty Return to Win Column in Phoenix

Burned by the Connecticut Sun, the New York Liberty started to make things right by cooling off the Phoenix Mercury.

Behind a new season-high in scoring for Courtney Vandersloot, the Liberty stemmed their slippage with an 84-70 victory at Footprint Center. Vandersloot put in 16 and also hauled in six rebounds as the Liberty (26-5) recovered from a Saturday defeat to Connecticut to re-establish their three-game lead atop the WNBA leaderboard.

Beyond Vandersloot’s outing, Breanna Stewart paired 21 points with six assists and rebounds each while Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu tallied 15 and 13 respectively.

While turnovers were once again a concerning issue … New York lost six in the opening period alone … the Liberty got their offense somewhat rolling again by scoring at least 20 points in each of the final three periods. Of note, they built the largest lead of the ball game with a 15-4 run over the first half of the fourth. With two makes and an assist, Vandersloot played a direct role on the first seven points of the stretch before stepping for Leonie Fiebich.

But the biggest difference for the Liberty was undoubtedly the presence of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who took the floor for the first time since July 6 after undergoing a knee procedure. Laney-Hamilton’s defense made an immediate difference and she helped close the Liberty ledger with nine points in the second half. Her final box score was one of variety, as she also tallied a trio of assists and steals.

Whereas New York limited the damage on its mistakes by allowing only 12 points off the turnovers, they wound up scoring 28 off 22 losses from Phoenix. The Mercury were limited to nine points in the opening period but landed 28 in the second, capping things off with a Diana Taurasi triple in the final seconds. Despite the late deficit, Phoenix had one last rally in its bones thanks to the end of a 22-point showing for Brittney Griner but Laney-Hamiltnon’s final scoring fury officially froze hope.

Phoenix (16-15) still holds a five-game advantage on ninth place Atlanta for a playoff spot and currently resides in sixth place. New York won the season series 2-1, as each team previously defended its home floor. The legendary Griner wound up making more history, as she became the third player in WNBA history to register 800 blocks in her career.

The Liberty’s road trip continues on Wednesday night when they once again go California dreaming against the Los Angeles Sparks (10 p.m. ET, WNYW).

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