New York Liberty @ Washington Mystics
Ionescu, Howard lead Liberty past Mystics, 74-70
WASHINGTON -- — Sabrina Ionescu made 5 of 10 3-pointers and finished with 24 points, Natasha Howard added 17 points and the New York Liberty beat the Washington Mystics 74-70 on Friday night.
New York (3-7) hit 11 3-pointers, made 17 of 18 free throws and committed a season-low 12 turnovers. The Liberty have won back-to-back games following a seven-game losing streak.
Howard, who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, finished with seven rebounds and three steals — the last of which came when she stole a pass from Natasha Cloud, was fouled and hit 1 of 2 from the foul line to make it 72-70 with 24.6 second to go.
Rebecca Allen added 11 points — seven in the final 2-plus minutes — and Sami Whitcomb was 3 of 6 from 3-point range and finished with nine points.
Cloud scored nine points in a 13-5 spurt that gave Washington (7-4) a one-point lead with three minutes to play and her pull-up jumper with 1:29 to play stretched the advantage to 68-65. Out a of timeout, Rebecca Allen tied it with a 3-pointer before Cloud set up a layup by Myisha Hines-Allen to give the Mystics a 70-68 lead with 1:11 remaining but Howard finished a layup through contact and made a free throw to give the Liberty the lead for good with 56.1 seconds to go.
Cloud led Washington with 17 points and eight assists — her 13th consecutive game with at least five assists, a franchise record. Ariel Atkins and Elena Delle Donne each added 15 points.
New York's Betnijah Laney, a 2021 All-Star. underwent surgery Wednesday to repair meniscus damage in her right knee and is slated to miss approximately eight weeks.
Washington Wizards players Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were in attendance.
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Matchups
Game Information
Washington, DC

Referee:Jeff Wooten
Referee:Maj Forsberg
Referee:Kelly Broomfield

2024-25 Standings
| Eastern Conference | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | 30 | 14 | .682 | - | W6 |
| New York | 27 | 17 | .614 | 3 | W3 |
| Indiana | 24 | 20 | .545 | 6 | W3 |
| Washington | 16 | 28 | .364 | 14 | L10 |
| Connecticut | 11 | 33 | .250 | 19 | L2 |
| Chicago | 10 | 34 | .227 | 20 | L4 |
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