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Breanna Stewart posted 16 points, 11 rebounds
and three steals for New York (4-0), while Jonquel Jones added
16 points and eight rebounds. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton chipped in
13 points.
Jewell Loyd scored 13 points to lead Seattle (1-3) but made only
5 of 17 shots from the field. Ezi Magbegor added 12 points for
the Storm, who played without star Nneka Ogwumike (ankle) for
the second straight game.
For most of the game, Seattle looked like a team playing for the
second time in as many days. The Storm struggled to make shots,
hitting only 24 of 70 attempts from the field (34.3 percent) and
6 of 24 3-pointers, and committing 23 fouls.
The Liberty didn't shoot well, hitting just 41.3 percent from
the field and 3 of 23 on 3-pointers, but made 19 of 20 at the
foul line and earned a 36-34 advantage on the boards. They also
outscored Seattle 42-24 in the paint.
New York established its working margin for the night pretty
quickly. A 9-2 burst that Stewart capped with a layup off a feed
by Laney-Hamilton made it 13-6 at the 5:08 mark. Ionescu made
the margin 10 with a pullup in the last minute of the first
quarter and the Liberty led 27-15 after 10 minutes.
The second quarter was rough for both teams. New York went
nearly four minutes without scoring but the Storm couldn't make
inroads into the deficit. Even though they got a buzzer-beater
from Mercedes Russell to end the half, the Storm still trailed
36-24.
Seattle got within 10 on a couple of occasions in the third
quarter before the Liberty rattled off seven straight points.
Ionescu drained a 3-pointer to end the run and make it 57-40.
New York led 60-45 after three and pushed the margin as high as
18 in the fourth quarter.
--Field Level Media [© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
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