Liberty shoot the lights out, hold off Sparks

Breanna Stewart scored 19 of her game-high 29 points in the second half and came away with a critical steal down the stretch to lift the visiting New York Liberty to a 113-109 defeat of the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday.

New York (16-12) gave up a 20-4 run midway through the second quarter, allowing a Los Angeles side desperate for victory to take a lead that lasted through much of the third period. But thanks to a strong showing from Sabrina Ionescu, who scored 27 points and has tallied at least 21 in five of the last six games, the Liberty never trailed by more than nine points.

Keeping the game in reach allowed New York to regain control when it went on a 23-8 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters. Stewart powered the pivotal spurt, which included a go-ahead basket just before the third period ended.

The Sparks (10-17), who took their sixth straight loss, scored seven consecutive points in just 51 seconds late in the fourth quarter to cut an 11-point deficit to four. Los Angeles took possession with an opportunity to pull to within a one-possession margin after Ionescu was called for traveling, but Stewart's fourth steal of the night gave New York the ball right back.

On the other end of the floor, Stewart dished the last of her seven assists to Rebecca Allen, who knocked down a 3-pointer to effectively put the game away for the Liberty. Allen's late bucket capped off a blistering 17-of-32 performance (53.1%) from deep for New York, led by Ionescu's 5-of-9 showing from outside the arc.

Han Xu and Mariane Fauthoux came off the bench, each hitting three 3-pointers en route to 13 points apiece. Rebekah Gardner, who made two 3-pointers off the bench, finished with 15 points.

Los Angeles shot well from beyond the arc in its own right, including a pair of late triples from Nneka Ogwumike to help pull the Sparks to within three points in the final minute. Ogwumike went 3-of-5 from outside and scored 21 points, Rae Burrell made 4-of-8 3-pointers on the way to a team-high 24 points and Erica Wheeler (17 points) went 4-of-5 beyond the arc to lead Los Angeles on a 16-of-31 (51.6%) night as a team from outside the arc.

Ariel Atkins added 16 points and Dearica Hamby had 12 for the Sparks, while Cameron Brink's 11 off the bench marked her fourth game in the last six reaching double figures.