Leonie Fiebich scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting as the host New York Liberty rallied from a 19-point, first-half deficit to defeat the Atlanta Dream 79-72 on Sunday afternoon.
Breanna Stewart had 18 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for New York. She was also clutch. After Atlanta put together a 6-0 run late in the fourth quarter to cut its deficit to four points, Stewart had two assists and two buckets in New York’s next four possessions.
The Liberty – the reigning WNBA champions – have won two straight games and three of their past four.
Atlanta has done the opposite, losing two straight and three of four.
Through three quarters, Fiebich had a game-high 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting, including 4-for-4 on 3-pointers. She finished the game 4-of-5 on 3-pointers.
Liberty All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu – who was coming off a 28-point game – was held to just nine points on 3-for-20 shooting, including 0-for-7 from deep. She missed her first nine shots.
Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 16 points, but she made just 3-of-13 shots, including 1-of-7 from deep.
Brittney Grinter had a double-double for Atlanta with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
The Liberty got two players off the injured list for this game: Natasha Cloud (hip) and Isabelle Harrison (knee). Cloud had two points, four assists and two steals. Harrison scored nine points and added six rebounds off the bench.
However, Liberty star center Jonquel Jones (ankle) missed her 11th game of the season.
Early in the game, New York raced to a 9-4 lead. But Atlanta stormed back to take a 26-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Dream stretched their lead to 19 points in the second quarter, but Atlanta settled for a 42-31 lead at halftime.
At the start of the third quarter, New York cut its deficit to 43-38, forcing a Dream timeout.
New York finally caught Atlanta as Marine Johannes nailed a 3-pointer to tie the score 49-49 with 2:42 left in the third. Then, with 57 seconds left in the third, Fiebich hit a 3-pointer to give New York a 52-51 advantage – its first lead since the first quarter.
The Liberty entered the fourth quarter with a 55-53 lead. A 3-pointer by Nyara Sabally stretched New York’s lead to 70-60 with five minutes left, and Atlanta never got closer than a four-point deficit the rest of the way.
–Field Level Media
