NEW YORK (AP) — Betnijah Laney scored a season-high 22 points, Jonquel Jones added 18 points and the New York Liberty rode a record-hot start to rout the Indiana Fever 101-83 on Sunday.
New York (16-5) made its first nine shots on the way to a 44-point first quarter. That's the most points ever scored in a period in WNBA history surpassing the 42 that Chicago had against the Liberty in 2019.
The Liberty made 15 of 18 from the field in the first, including six 3-pointers to go up by 27 points after the opening 10 minutes.
New York cooled off a bit in the second and led 68-46 at the half _ just short of the record for points in an opening 20 minutes.
These two teams met right before the All-Star break and Indiana rallied from a 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter, tying the game at the buzzer on a 3-pointer by Aliyah Boston. The Liberty pulled away in overtime.
There was no such comeback this time as New York finished the game shooting 54.
The easy win allowed coach Sandy Brondello to get some rest for her starting group. New York enters a tough stretch of its schedule with five games in eight days, although four of them are at home.
While Indiana (6-16) wasn't really ever in Sunday's game after the opening quarter, the Fever have already been more successful than last season when they won five games total.
The Fever saw the return of Lexie Hull, who missed the previous two games after breaking her nose. She sported a clear mask that she said before the game she'll have to wear for the rest of the season. Hull finished with seven points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Victoria Vivians led Indiana with 16 points and Erica Wheeler added 15.
MYSTICS 84, MERCURY 69
WASHINGTON (AP) — Natasha Cloud scored 23 points and had nine assists, Brittney Sykes also scored 23 points and the short-handed Washington Mystics beat Phoenix 84-69 Sunday, extending the Mercury's road losing streak to seven games.
Shatori Walker-Kimbrough added 13 points for Washington (12-10).
Phoenix (6-16), which is 1-10 away from home this season, has the longest active road losing streak in the WNBA. The Mercury had won back-to-back games (for the first time this season) and three of their last four.
Two-time WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne (left ankle sprain), Shakira Austin (left hip strain), Ariel Atkins (left ankle sprain) — all regular starters who combine to account for approximately 40% of Washington’s scoring this season — and Kristi Tolliver (plantar fasciitis) did not play for the Mystics.
Sykes made a driving basket with 4:52 left in the first quarter that gave the Mystics the lead for good and sparked an 8-0 run, capped when Tianna Hawkins scored to make it 17-10. Sophie Cunningham hit a 3-pointer that trimmed the Mercury's deficit to 30-28 midway through the second quarter but Cloud and Walker-Kimbrough each scored five points in a 10-1 over the next three minutes and the Mystics led by double figures the rest of the way.
Washington scored 22 points off 19 Mercury turnovers. Phoenix went into to the game averaging a league-high 17.3 turnovers per game this season — 1.8 more than any other team.
Cloud scored 19 of her points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first half as the Mystics took a 46-31 lead into the break.
Cunningham hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting for Phoenix. Brittney Griner and Megan Gustafson each scored 12 points and Moriah Jefferson 11.
Diana Taurasi (quad/toe) missed her second consecutive game for Phoenix.
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