NEW YORK — Betnijah Laney scored a season-high 22 points, Jonquel Jones added 18 points and the New York Liberty rode a record hot start to rout the Indiana Fever 101-83 on Sunday.
New York (16-5) made its first nine shots on the way to a 44-point first quarter. That’s the most points ever scored in a period in WNBA history, surpassing the 42 that Chicago had against the Liberty in 2019.
“Anytime we can move the ball side to side and get everybody involved, it causes teams to have to play us honestly and gives us all space to do what we have to do,” Jones said.
The Liberty made 15 of 18 from the field in the first, including six 3-pointers, to go up by 27 points after the opening 10 minutes.
New York cooled off a bit in the second and led 68-46 at the half — just short of the league mark for points in a half.
“If this was a three-quarter game, we win by nine,” an agitated Indiana coach Christie Sides said. “You got to show me you’re ready to play every night. Forty-four points is ridiculous.”
These two teams met right before the All-Star break, and Indiana rallied from a 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter, tying the game at the buzzer on a 3-pointer by Aliyah Boston. The Liberty pulled away in overtime.
There was no such comeback…
