Stewart banks in go-ahead shot, Liberty beat Sky in Vandersloot's return
Published
CHICAGO -- — Breanna Stewart banked in a go-ahead shot with 7.1 seconds left and the New York Liberty rallied to defeat the Chicago Sky 77-76 on Friday night in Courtney Vandersloot's return to the Windy City.
Chicago called a timeout to set up a final play. Courtney Williams was short on a jump shot and Marina Mabrey grabbed the offensive rebound but she couldn’t get off a quality shot before the buzzer.
Stewart finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for New York (4-1). Betnijah Laney scored 17 points and Vandersloot, who was drafted third in 2011 by Chicago, had eight points and eight assists.
Sabrina Ionescu was fouled with 0.9 seconds left in the third quarter and she made two free throws for her first points of the game to pull New York within 59-56. Ionescu made her first field goal of the game with 8:17 left in the fourth — a wide open 3-pointer off a nice pass from Vandersloot — to make it 63-59.
Kahleah Copper led Chicago (3-3) with 20 points. Alanna Smith made all seven of her field goals, including three 3-pointers, to score a career-high 18. Mabrey finished with 15 points and Williams scored all seven of her points in the fourth quarter, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 55 seconds left.
The Sky led 43-35 at halftime behind 18 points from Copper, who was helped off the floor with 56.9 seconds left in the second quarter after appearing to injure her right ankle.