Liberty avoid late collapse to defeat Mercury, end West Coast trip on high note

PHOENIX — That was close.

Too close. 

But the Liberty ultimately ended their three-game West Coast swing on a high note Saturday, beating the Mercury 94-92.

The Liberty almost blew it.

They squandered an early 11-point lead and found themselves down 10 in the second half. 

The Liberty led by eight with 1:10 left in the fourth quarter. 

Then, they started to unravel. 

The Mercury made four free throws across back-to-back possessions.

Then, a bad Sabrina Ionescu turnover led to a wide-open DeWanna Bonner 3. 

Just like that, the Liberty’s lead was only two points with 24 seconds left. 

New York didn’t lose its composure and ultimately survived to improve to 17-13 on the season. 

After Thursday’s loss in Las Vegas, Breanna Stewart saw a sign of improvement.

It’s not often in the face of defeat that one can skim through the good and the bad and determine that, despite the team’s three-game losing skid being snapped, New York took a step forward.

But it was the fight and desire to compete for a full 40 minutes that stood out to Stewart. 

That resilience was obvious late in Saturday’s matinee. 

Ionescu tallied team-high in points (27) and assists (10).

She was three rebounds off of her first triple-double of the season.

Jonquel Jones finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists. 

Han Xu came in big off the bench, contributing 17 points and six rebounds.