Breanna Stewart’s 33 points led the New York Liberty to a 98-88 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday. The win improved the Liberty to 14-3 through 17 games, giving them the best start in franchise history.
Last season’s team finished with a franchise-best 18-5 record, but their .783 winning percentage was lower than this year’s Liberty team’s current .824 winning percentage. The 2023 Liberty is 13-4 (.765) through 17 games.
Stewie led the Liberty to a 98-83 win over the Sparks.
The Liberty (14-3) is off to their best start in franchise history! pic.twitter.com/x3qcqzmdKn
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 22, 2024
The Liberty is 14-3 and still trails the Connecticut Sun, who have the WNBA’s best record at 13-2 entering Saturday’s road game against the Seattle Storm (9-6).
Stewart shot 12 of 19 from the field and had seven assists, six blocks and three steals. Her 33 points tied her season-high, which she also recorded against the Chicago Sky on June 4. (She scored a career-high and team-high 45 points last season against the Indiana Fever.) Stewart also became the first player in WNBA history to record 20-plus points in a half (24), along with five assists and five blocks.
Breanna Stewart had a monster first half performance against the LA Sparks.
24 Points
5.AST
5 Black
3 Styles
8-10 FG
3-5 3 points
She became the first player in WNBA history to have 20+ points, 5+ AST and 5+ BLK at halftime. pic.twitter.com/Cw2J0AElco
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 22, 2024
Sabrina Ionescu had 24 points, six rebounds and nine assists for New York, and Kayla Thornton had 20 points (6-of-7 on 3-pointers) and six rebounds.
Saturday’s win marked New York’s second straight victory over the Sparks, who met in back-to-back games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn due to a bizarre scheduling conflict. New York also won 93-80 on Thursday.
Los Angeles was led by Dearrica Hamby with 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks, and Zia Cook added 14 points. This was the Sparks’ second game without star rookie Cameron Brink since suffering a season-ending knee injury against the Sun on Tuesday.
The Liberty played without Courtney VanderSloot, who left the team to be with her mother, who died last weekend, Betnijah-Rainey-Hamilton, who is recovering from a knee injury, and Nyala Sabali, who is out with a back injury.
The Liberty’s next game is on the road against the Atlanta Dream on Sunday before taking a week off, while the Sparks face off against the Phoenix Mercury on Friday.
