New York’s Breanna Stewart (30) tries to drive on Connecticut rookie Leila Lacan (47) in Monday night’s WNBA game in Brooklyn. The Liberty won, 81-79. (Photo by Jordan Bank/Getty Images)
Two big stars returned for New York and helped the Liberty beat the Sun on Monday night, 81-79 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Sabrina Ionescu, who missed Saturday’s loss to Atlanta after injuring her foot last week, returned to the New York lineup and blocked an attempt from Connecticut’s Lelia Lacan with 2.2 seconds left to secure the victory.
Lacan finished with a career-high 22 points, three rebounds and three assists for Connecticut (9-28) Lacan had two steals for the 13th time in a Sun uniform this season. After a steal, Lacan had a chance to tie the ballgame but Ionescu blocked her shot.
“It happened so quick,” Ionescu said. “I was doing what I could to get a hand on the ball and disrupt a wide-open layup and I did it without fouling which was huge for us.”
The Sun trailed by as many as 17 in the game but rallied late to get an opportunity to win. The Sun had their season-high three-game winning streak snapped.
New York (22-15) also benefited from the return of MVP Breanna Stewart, who returned from a 13-game absence due to a bone bruise on her right knee. Stewart scored 19 points to help the Liberty.
Connecticut rookie forward Aneesah Morrow added her fifth double-double of the season with 18 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Her 15 rebounds ties Washington’s Kiki Iriafen for most rebounds by a rookie in a game this season.
Marina Mabrey notched 16 points, two rebounds, four assists and one steal for the Sun while Tina Charles had 13 points and three rebounds.
Morrow had 10 points in a 15-11 run by the Sun to open the third quarter and take a 51-58 lead with 3:56 left in the third quarter. Connecticut led by one, 59-58 after three quarters with Morrow scoring 12 of her 18 points in the third quarter.
The Liberty led by one, 67-66 with 5:46 remaining and scored seven unanswered points to stretch the lead to eight.
Connecticut went on an 11-7 run to cut the deficit to four, 81-77, with 51.7 to play in the game. A pair of free-throws from Aaliyah Edwards with 23.6 seconds left in the fourth trimmed the Liberty’s lead to two, 81-79. Lacan was able to steal the ball away from the Ionescu on their final offensive possession but it was blocked to preserve the win.
Jonquel Jones had 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for New York, hitting on 8-of-19 shots from the field. Kennedy Burke had 14 points while Ionescu had 11 points and nine assists. The recently-signed Emma Messeman had 10 points.
The Sun close out a three-game road trip with a game at Dallas (9-29) on Wednesday night beginning at 8 p.m. (NBC Sports Boston) before returning home to the Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday night to host Minnesota at 7 p.m.
Connecticut’s last game against Dallas came on June 20 in Uncasville with the Sun dropping an 86-83 decision despite 26 points from Charles and 10 from Morrow.
