Sports
Liberty's Breanna Stewart sets WNBA record with 3rd 40-point game this season – ESPN
INDIANAPOLIS — Breanna Stewart scored 30 of her 42 points in the first half to help the New York Liberty beat the Indiana Fever 100-89 on Sunday and set a franchise record for wins in a season.
New York (24-6) has won six games in a row and 10 of its past 11.
Stewart, who scored 45 points in a 90-73 win over the Fever on May 21 and had a 43-point performance against the Phoenix Mercury on July 5, became the first player in WNBA history to score at least 40 points three times in the same season. She joins Diana Taurasi (four times) and Maya Moore (three) as the only players to top the 40-point plateau three times in their career.
Stewart also had six rebounds and six assists, becoming the first player league history with multiple games of 40 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
“I was getting some good looks,” Stewart said. “They were switching a lot, just continuing to read what the defense gave me. And that kind of just continued throughout [the game]. I’m really happy with how we all played, in general.”
Jonquel Jones had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Liberty, Betnijah Laney scored 12 and Sabrina Ionescu 10. Courtney Vandersloot scored four points on 1-of-7 shooting but finished with 14 assists.
Ionescu hit two 3-pointers, giving her 101 made 3s this year to join Taurasi and Kelsey Plum as the only players in league history with 100-plus 3s in a single season.
Kelsey Mitchell scored 22 points and Erica Wheeler 21 to lead Indiana (8-23). Aliyah Boston added 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists and NaLyssa Smith scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
