Sabrina Ionescu scored 20 points, and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton added 17 as the New York Liberty led from start to finish in their 99-67 victory over the Dallas Wings on Thursday night. This win marked their fifth consecutive victory.
Ionescu hit 8 of 18 shots, including four 3-pointers, and provided six assists for New York (31-6), which has the best record in the league and defeated the Wings for the second time in three days.
Laney-Hamilton made three 3-pointers and scored half of her 12 shots, also grabbing six rebounds.
Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot each scored 11 points for the Liberty, and Leonie Fiebich contributed nine points off the bench.
For Dallas (9-28), which has now lost six straight games, Arike Ogunbowale and Maddy Siegrist each scored 11 points.
Ionescu made two 3-pointers, and Laney-Hamilton added one as the Liberty quickly took a 9-0 lead. Jaelyn Brown hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to 20-15 for Dallas, but Ionescu scored a 3-pointer and a reverse layup in the last 44 seconds to give the Liberty a 25-15 lead after the first quarter.
By halftime, Ionescu had 16 points, and Laney-Hamilton had 12, helping the Liberty build a 50-32 lead. The Dallas bench, led by seven points from Brown, added 14 points in the first half.
Satou Sabally’s layup brought the Wings within 14 two minutes into the third quarter. However, Vandersloot and Ionescu responded with back-to-back layups, keeping New York comfortably ahead at 73-55 heading into the final quarter.
On Tuesday, New York had also beaten the Wings 105-91, becoming the second team to achieve 30 wins in 36 games, joining the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces.
The Aces set this record last season when the league played a 40-game regular season for the first time. The Liberty needs to win their remaining three games to match the Aces’ record of 34-6.
