Full-strength Liberty muscle past Mystics as playoffs near

Back at full strength, the New York Liberty muscled past the visiting Washington Mystics 75-66 Tuesday night.

It has been a season full of injuries for New York, who was looking to restore some momentum heading into the WNBA playoffs. The Liberty have now won four of their last six games.

New York started the same lineup it had on Opening Night, featuring the return of Sabrina Ionescu, who had missed the last four games with a toe injury. Ionescu played 27 minutes and had six points and a game-high nine assists.

Emma Meesseman led New York (26-17) with 19 points off the bench. Breanna Stewart had 14. The Liberty remain locked on the fifth seed in the WNBA playoffs with one game left to play, and will likely face Phoenix in the first round.

Washington (16-28) ends the season on a 10-game losing streak. Its 16 wins were two more than the team had in 2024. Rookie Kiki Iriafen led the Mystics with 16 points.

New York never trailed after the first three minutes. Its first three made shots were all threes, one each by Stewart, Leonie Fiebich and Natasha Cloud.

The Mystics cut the deficit to 12-10 on a drive by Shakira Austin with two minutes left in the first quarter, but New York answered with a 7-0 run to end the quarter, highlighted by a three from Rebekah Gardner.

New York would push the lead to as much as 16 in the second quarter when Kennedy Burke sank a three from the wing to make it 39-23 with under a minute left in the first half. Five different Liberty players made threes in the first half.

Washington opened the second half on a 10-2 run to make it 43-36 and put some pressure on New York, but the Liberty were able to get back in a groove on offense and led by double figures most of the rest of the game.

After a slow start, Jonquel Jones had 12 points and 11 rebounds for New York. Since she joined the team ahead of the 2023 season, the Liberty are 34-0 in regular-season games when Jones records a double-double.

The Liberty won all four regular season games against the Mystics and have won the last eight meetings between the two franchises.

--Field Level Media