NEW YORK — Breanna Stewart scored 25 points and Sabrina Ionescu broke the single-season 3-point record to help the New York Liberty beat the Los Angeles Sparks 96-89 on Thursday night, giving the Liberty eight straight wins.
New York (32-7) moved a half-game behind Las Vegas for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The Liberty close out the season on Sunday at home against Washington. The Aces have a home-and-home series with Phoenix on Friday and Sunday.
The loss put the Sparks (16-23) a half-game behind Chicago for the final playoff spot. The Sky own the tiebreaker between the teams so Los Angeles would have to win at Seattle on Sunday and have Chicago lose its final two games.
Ionescu topped Diana Taurasi‘s single-season 3-point mark of 121, set in 2006, and now has 124 this year.
“It’s an honor, any time you’re able to pass arguably the greatest basketball player that ever played in the WNBA,” Ionescu said.
The Liberty’s star guard missed all eight of her shots in the first half, including six 3-pointers, before getting going in the second half. Ionescu made a 3 with 9:12 left in the third quarter to tie Taurasi’s mark of 121. Ionescu then broke the 17-year-old mark with a 3 that she banked in from the corner 2 minutes later.
“That’s a great accomplishment. Diana is one of the…
