Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu lead Liberty to 113-109 win over skidding Sparks

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Breanna Stewart had 29 points and Sabrina Ionescu scored 27 to help the New York Liberty hold off the Los Angeles Sparks 113-109 on Tuesday night.

Stewart made 11 of 19 shots and scored 19 points in the second half after New York (16-12) trailed 56-53 at the break. She added seven assists, four rebounds and four steals.

Ionescu shot 9 for 16 with five 3-pointers and had 14 points in the first quarter to help the Liberty lead 36-30.

Rebekah Gardner finished with 15 points for New York and fellow reserves Han Xu and Marine Fauthoux each scored 13.

Rae Burrell had 24 points to lead Los Angeles (10-17), which has lost six straight and nine of 11. Nneka Ogwumike chipped in with 21 points and nine assists after posting four straight double-doubles.

Burrell sank a 3-pointer to put the Sparks up 81-74, but Stewart hit a floater to finish a quarter-ending 11-4 run and the Liberty led by a point heading into the fourth.

Fauthoux hit two straight 3s for a 93-86 advantage and New York maintained a two-possession lead for almost all of the final eight minutes.

Liberty: At the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday.

Sparks: At the Portland Fire on Sunday.

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