Kiki Iriafen scored nine of her 20 points in the final four minutes as the Washington Mystics roared back from an eight-point deficit to stun the host New York Liberty 86-83 on Friday.
The Mystics snapped the Liberty’s eight-game winning streak and earned their first victory over New York since the last day of the 2023 regular season. The Liberty had won 10 straight in the series.
All five starters finished in double figures for Washington (7-7). Sonia Citron had 16 points, Shakira Austin scored 14, Michaela Onyenwere contributed 11 and Georgia Amoore tallied 10 for the Mystics, who have won three of their past four. Amoore and Citron each dished out eight assists.
New York (11-5) was led by Leonie Fiebich, who had 19 points, including three 3-pointers. Breanna Stewart (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Jonquel Jones (10 points, 10 rebounds) each logged double-doubles for the Liberty.
The Mystics shot 32 free throws compared to 20 for New York. The game featured 19 ties and 12 lead changes.
New York took a 77-69 lead on a driving layup by Jones with 4:01 to go. The Mystics, who have the WNBA’s youngest team, responded with a 14-4 run and took the lead on a pair of Citron free throws with 1:09 remaining.
The Liberty’s Satou Sabally (13 points) tied the game at 83 by hitting two free throws with 48.6 seconds left. On the next possession with the shot clock running down, Citron lofted a pass to Iriafen, who laid it in with 26.9 seconds to go.
Iriafen made one of two free throws with 11.8 seconds after Stewart missed on a hook shot.
The Liberty called timeout to advance the ball past half-court. Sabrina Ionescu took a long 3-point attempt that missed. Fiebich grabbed the rebound and fed Sabally outside the arc, but Sabally’s shot was short at the buzzer.
There were eight ties in the first quarter as the teams continued to match one impressive shot-making feat with another.
Washington had the game’s first surge with a 9-4 run — with eight of the points coming from Citron — to grab a 32-27 lead with 6:57 left in the half. The Liberty answered with a 12-2 run to go up 39-34. New York held a 43-39 edge at halftime.
–Field Level Media
