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Jonquel Jones added 19 points and 14 rebounds
and Betnijah Laney also scored 19 points as the second-seeded
Liberty prevailed in Game 2 of the best-of-three first-round
series. New York won Game 1, 90-75 on Friday.
Natasha Cloud scored a career-high 33 points and also had nine
assists, six rebounds and four steals for the seventh-seeded
Mystics. Brittney Sykes had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Ariel
Atkins scored 13 points.
The Liberty will face either the Connecticut Sun or Minnesota
Lynx in the semifinals.
New York moved ahead in the extra period on Laney's jumper with
3:56 remaining. Courtney Vandersloot followed with four straight
points to make it 84-79 with 2:29 left.
Washington twice moved within one before Stewart made two free
throws to give the Liberty an 88-85 lead with 11.8 seconds
remaining. Atkins missed a 3-pointer with about seven seconds
left before Stewart wrapped it up with two more free throws with
4.4 seconds to play.
In regulation, Jones threw a bad pass that was stolen by Cloud,
who was fouled with 27.3 seconds left and made both free throws
to give Washington a 76-74 lead. However, Jones made two free
throws of her own with 11.3 seconds left as the game went into
overtime.
Elena Delle Donne had 11 points and Myisha Hines-Allen scored 10
for Washington, which shot 40 percent from the field and made 8
of 26 shots from 3-point range.
Sabrina Ionescu had 11 points and nine rebounds for New York,
which shot 42 percent and was a subpar 4 of 23 from behind the
arc.
Washington trailed 46-35 at halftime before holding New York to
13 third-quarter points to move within three. Sykes and Cloud
opened the final quarter with treys to give the Mystics a 62-59
lead.
After the Liberty moved back ahead by one, Washington scored
seven straight points. Cloud capped the burst with back-to-back
baskets to give the Mystics a 69-63 with 4:33 left.
But New York later scored nine straight points to take a 74-71
lead on Stewart's basket with 45.8 seconds left. Sykes connected
on a 3-pointer with 33.5 seconds left to tie it.
--Field Level Media
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