Liberty players Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu and Kayla Thornton rejoice after completing a two-game sweep of the Mystics Tuesday night in Downtown Brooklyn. Photo by Brandon Todd/New York Liberty
For the first time in eight years, the New York Liberty are headed to the WNBA semifinals.
And it certainly didn’t come easy.
Breanna Stewart scored 27 points and Jonquel Jones added 19 points and 14 rebounds as the Liberty clawed their way to a 90-85 overtime victory over the Washington Mystics Tuesday night, completing a two-game sweep of their first-round playoff series in front of 9,256 fans at Barclays Center.
“It means a lot. I don’t know if we’re thinking about (the franchise advancing in the playoffs for the first time since 2015),” Stewart ceded after leading New York into a second-round series against the winner of Wednesday’s decisive Game 3 between Connecticut and Minnesota.
“Today there were highs and lows,” she added. “We knew it was going to be emotional. D.C. was going to go out swinging. We stayed the course. We didn’t stop playing until the final buzzer.”
Neither did the Mystics (0-2), who got a heroic, career-high 33-point performance from Natasha Cloud.
“One of the best games of her career,” Mystics coach Eric Thibault gushed of the veteran guard, who also dished out a game-high nine assists.
“Especially considering the way they were playing her and put the people on her,” he added. “To do it on a stage like this was impressive.”
The Liberty (2-0) desperately wanted to avoid flying to our nation’s capital for Game 3 on Friday night, but Cloud and the Mystics (0-2) pushed them to the limit.
After squandering an 11-point halftime advantage, New York was unable to pull away again.
Stewart drained an 11-footer that gave the Liberty a…
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