Photo by Markus Spiske
The New York Liberty earned their ninth win of the season on Thursday by defeating the Atlanta Dream 78-61!
The leading scorer for the Liberty in the win was Breanna Stewart who recorded 25 points. Stewart also posted a double-double in the win, as she collected ten rebounds with her 25 points.
Three other New York players who scored in double-digits were Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (15),  Sabrina Ionescu (10), and Jonquel Jones (10).
The leading scorer for Atlanta in the game was Allisha Gray, who scored 16 points.
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The Liberty had the advantage in multiple categories in the game, which included points in the paint (40-22), fast-break points (17-6), assists (24-15), and rebounds (44-34).
New York also had the advantage of shooting as well, as the team shot 39.2 (29-74) and the Dream shot 34.4 (22-64). The Liberty also had the advantage over Atlanta at the three-point line as the team shot 29.0 (9-31) and the Dream shot 14.3(3-21). New York also bested Atlanta at the foul line, with the team shooting 84.6 (11-13) and the Dream shooting 82.4 (14-17).
Game Recap:
New York leads by three points at the end of the first quarter.
The game started with The Dream rocketing off to an 8-2 advantage with 6:43 left in the opening quarter.
Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard led the charge on that run, as the duo scored six of the team’s eight points and collected five rebounds. Howard also had a block during that time.
Seconds later, the Liberty would punch back by going on a 13-4 run to end the first quarter with a 15-12 lead.
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Breanna Stewart, and Sabrina Ionescu made problems for the Atlanta defenders during that time, as the trio scored all 13 points.
The Liberty leads by six points at the end of the first half.
In the first three minutes and 59 seconds, the Dream would continue to keep pace with New York, as the team tied the score three times during that time. The final time was when Tina Charles hit a 19-foot jumper to tie the score at 21 with 6:41 remaining in the first half.
Fast forward to the 2:38 minute mark, where once again Charles would tie the game up (30-30), but this with a three-point shot.
The Liberty would find a rhythm to their offense right after this, as the team finished the first half out, with an 8-2 run to take a 38-32 edge.
New York leads by seven points at the end of the third quarter.
The Liberty would start the second half by flying off on a 9-4 run to push their lead to 47-36 with 4:24 left in the third.
On this run, Breanna Stewart would score four points, collect one rebound, and get one block.
Seconds later, Lorela Cubaj and Allisha Gray would take over the game, as the duo scored ten of the Dream’s 12 points to slice the deficit to seven points at the end of the third (55-48).
New York takes home a 78-61 victory!
The Dream kept New York’s lead within the sights for most of the game, but the Liberty would pull away in the fourth by outscoring Atlanta 23-13 to take home a 78-61 victory!
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