Sabrina Ionescu scores 29 as Liberty beat Mercury 89-76 for 5th straight win

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NEW YORK (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu scored 29 points while Jonquel Jones added 20 points and 11 rebounds to help the New York Liberty beat the Phoenix Mercury 89-76 on Friday night for their fifth consecutive win.

Leonie Fiebich added 13 points for the Liberty (17-6), who put more space between them and the third-place Mercury (15-9), who won the teams' first two meetings this season.

New York trailed 54-49 midway through the third quarter before closing the period on an 18-5 run capped by Jones’ fadeaway shot that she got off just before the end of the quarter. That gave the Liberty a 67-59 lead.

The Liberty poured it on in the fourth behind Ionescu, who scored the first five points during a 10-2 run that gave the team a 82-64 advantage — its biggest of the game. The Mercury couldn't get within single digits the rest of the way.

Alyssa Thomas had 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists for Phoenix. She fell just short of her 17th career triple-double and 13th in the regular season.

Phoenix scored the first eight points and built its lead to a dozen before New York rallied to tie it 46-all at the half. Ionescu hit two free throws with 0.9 seconds left in the second quarter. Jones had 11 points and eight rebounds in the half. Thomas had 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the opening 20 minutes.

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