Ionescu has 27 points, 10 rebounds as Liberty edge Mercury 94-92

PHOENIX (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu had 27 points and 10 assists, Han Xu scored 17 points off the bench, and the New York Liberty edged the Phoenix Mercury 94-92 on Saturday.

Xu, who had 11 points in nine minutes in the first half because Jonquel Jones was in foul trouble, shot 6 of 9 from the field, including 3 for 6 on 3-pointers. Jones had half her 16 points in the fourth quarter with nine rebounds and five assists.

Breanna Stewart had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Liberty (17-13), who finished 19 of 19 from the foul line.

DeWanna Bonner and Kahleah Copper both had 25 points for the Mercury (11-19) and Alyssa Thomas had 17 points. Bonner played in her 565th career WNBA game, tied for second with Diana Taurasi for most in a career.

New York had an eight-point lead entering the final minute but Copper, who had her 10th game of at least 25 points, made a pair of free throws and when Bonner hit a 3 with 24.1 seconds to go it was 92-90.

It took the Mercury 11 seconds to commit two fouls, which sent Stewart to the line for a four-point lead with 13 to play. Thomas answered with a layup with four seconds to go but time ran out.

Up next

Liberty: Head home for a two-game series with Seattle, beginning Monday.

Mercury: Start a four-game, seven-day road trip in Chicago on Monday.

___

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

News from © The Associated Press, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?

The Associated Press

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.