Liberty clinch home court for WNBA Cup title tilt
NEW YORK — Jonquel Jones scored 29 points and the New York Liberty beat the winless Washington Mystics 93-88 on Sunday to clinch home court in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game.
The Liberty, who won the Commissioner’s Cup last season, will host the Commissioner’s Cup title game on June 25. New York, which has won seven straight games, will play the top team in the Western Conference cup standings.
New York (11-2) came through a grueling stretch with five games in eight days, including winning back-to-back contests on Saturday and Sunday.
The Liberty led by two heading into the fourth quarter before they extended the lead to 86-79 with 4:03 left on a putback by Jones. Washington scored the only basket over the next 2:30 until Sabrina Ionescu hit a 10-foot floater from the wing that made it 88-81 with 1:30 left.
Washington (0-12) scored the next five points and trailed 88-86 with 24 seconds left. Ionescu hit the second of two free throws to make it a three-point game.
Jade Melbourne made a layup to bring Washington within one. New York then found Jones for a wide-open layup after breaking the Mystics’ press with just over eight seconds left. Melbourne had a chance to tie the game but missed a 3-pointer from the wing.
Washington has lost nine of its 12 games by single digits. The Mystics are still behind Atlanta’s record 17-game losing streak to begin the 2008 season. The Mystics have been playing without stars Brittney Sykes (ankle) and Shakira Austin (hip).
“I’ll say we’re holding up pretty well, not that anyone’s happy about it,” Mystics coach Eric Thibault said. “You never want to get to the point where you feel like you’re accepting it, and I don’t think we’ve done that. But we’ve come back with each game and battled. We don’t look like a discouraged team. We don’t look like a team that’s mailing it in.”
Melbourne scored a career-high 21 points to lead Washington.
It was an entertaining first half that saw the two teams tied at 45 going into the break. Julie Vanloo had a behind-the-back pass in the second quarter that led to a layup for Washington. Ionescu showed off her dribbling skills on the fast break before throwing a laser pass to Jones for a lay-in. Earlier in the quarter, Jones had a monster block that led to her getting fouled on the other end.
