Breanna Stewart sets Liberty scoring record, rallies New York past Connecticut in OT
UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Breanna Stewart broke the Liberty's single-season scoring record, scoring 24 points on Thursday night as New York rallied from a 20-point second-half deficit to beat the Connecticut Sun 95-90 in overtime.
Connecticut's Alyssa Thomas broke the WNBA record for double-doubles in a season with her 24th. She finished with 22 points and 12 assists on her bobblehead night.
Stewart also had 12 rebounds. Jonquel Jones had 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Liberty (26-7), who moved 3 1/2 games ahead of the Sun (23-11) for second place with six games to play in the regular season.
Stewart had a key putback late in regulation and scored the first five points in overtime.
Sabrina Ionescu, who made 2 of 3 free throws with 1.3 seconds left in regulation, scored the last four points to help hold off the Sun. She finished with 18 points.
DeWanna Bonner had 30 points and 12 rebounds for Connecticut, which led from the midpoint of the second quarter until Stewart scored in overtime. Bonner caught Sue Bird for seventh on the career scoring list with 6,803 points.
Stewart, who has 747 points this year, scored off an offensive rebound with 4 seconds left in regulation to pull the Liberty within 82-80. Courtney Vandersloot then stole the inbounds pass and got the ball to Ionescu, who was fouled on a 3-point attempt. Ionescu made the first two shots to send the game to OT.
Connecticut used a 16-2 run in the second quarter to build a 48-34 lead at the half. The Sun pushed the lead to 59-39 when Natisha Hiedeman scored on a reverse layup, thanks to a pass from Thomas. The Liberty responded with a 10-0 run to begin their rally.
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