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Mercury falls on Liberty after Breanna Stewart’s big day


Mercury falls on Liberty after Breanna Stewart’s big day

PHOENIX (AP) — Breanna Stewart scored 21 points, Courtney Vandersloot added 16 and the New York Liberty used a 10-0 fourth-quarter run to pull away from the Phoenix Mercury 84-70 on Monday night.

Sabrina Ionescu scored five points as the Liberty turned a 64-57 lead into a 17-point advantage midway through the fourth quarter, starting with Stewart’s turnaround jumper from the free throw line. Leonie Fiebich added a 3-pointer, her only basket of the game.

Jonquel Jones scored 15 points for the Liberty (27-5), which hit 12 3-pointers and outscored Phoenix 14-3 at the free throw line. Ionescu finished with 13 points.

Brittney Griner scored 22 points to lead the Mercury (16-15), but had seven of her 20 turnovers. Natasha Cloud added 18 points, Kahleah Copper had 14 and Diana Taurasi 10. The turnovers cost Phenix 28 points and the bench was outscored 15-4.

New York was 12 of 29 from behind the arc, Phoenix 5 of 22.

Taurasi hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to give the Mercury a 38-38 lead at halftime. The Liberty led by as many as nine points but were outscored 20-12 inside and Phoenix had 15 fast break points.

Griner reached 800 blocks in his career for the Mercury and Cloud reached 200 assists this season, passing Taurasi, the franchise’s single-season record holder. Taurasi also passed Lindsey Whalen (2,348) to move into fourth place on the WBA career assists list.

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