NEW YORK — Sabrina Ionescu scored 21 points and Jonquel Jones added 18 points and 13 rebounds to help the New York Liberty beat the Chicago Sky 91-76 on Thursday night.
Angel Reese extended her WNBA-record double-double streak to 15 games, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She secured her 10th rebound with just more than two minutes left in the game, which drew a loud cheer from the crowd of 17,758, the largest in Liberty history at Barclays Center.
“They love women’s sports,” Reese said. “Just being able to go in this direction and continue to strive for great things. You never know the limit here. So many records have been broken, not just with me, but so many different players in this league.”
New York (19-4) led 68-66 early in the fourth quarter before going on a 7-2 run to create some space.
Reese’s 10th point got the Sky (9-13) within 78-72 with 3:51 left. After a timeout, Ionescu hit a 3-pointer, and the Sky never recovered.
After leading by one through three quarters, the Liberty outscored the Sky 28-14 in the fourth.
Chennedy Carter scored 22 points to lead the Sky.
Chicago jumped to a 37-24 lead midway through the second quarter behind Carter before Breanna Stewart got going to rally the Liberty to within 40-38 at halftime. Stewart scored the first seven points of a 14-1 run to get New York back in the game.
Ionescu had her first points of the game to cap the run and tie the game at 38. She had missed her first seven shots. She was much better in the second half.
“I was just trusting the looks — I was getting good looks at the basket, they were just long,” Ionescu said. “I was driving and getting into the pick-and-roll with (Jonquel), which was beneficial for us in the fourth quarter.”
Before the second quarter began, the Liberty honored many of their former players, including Ring of Honor members Kym Hampton and Sue Wicks. The announcer saved Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon for last, and her former teammates went over and mobbed her after the ceremony.
Weatherspoon, the rookie coach who played seven of her eight WNBA seasons in New York, got a warm ovation from the sellout crowd.
“Amazing feeling to have an opportunity to see one another, reminisce a little bit,” the Hall of Famer said. “Do something like this in front of an amazing crowd here. It’s an awesome feeling. I love those young women with all my heart and they know that. The love we share is really real.”
Both teams were playing the second game of a back-to-back. The Sky beat Atlanta on Wednesday in Chicago while New York won at Connecticut.
The teams play again Saturday at Wintrust Arena.
