Jones, Fiebich and Meesseman power Liberty to win over Wings
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NEW YORK -- — Jonquel Jones had 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the New York Liberty to an 85-76 victory over the Dallas Wings on Tuesday night.
Leonie Fiebich scored 14 points and Emma Meesseman, playing her first home game for the Liberty since her return to the WNBA, added 13. Chants of “Emma!” broke out at Barclay’s Center following the victory.
Meesseman, a former finals MVP who last played in the league in 2022 before winning the EuroLeague Women’s MVP the last three seasons, scored 11 points in her season debut on Sunday in an 87-78 win over Connecticut.
Paige Bueckers had 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the Wings' first game since Dijonai Carrington was traded to the Lynx. She left the game with 2:37 left in the third quarter and went to the locker room with tightness in her back, she said. The No. 1 pick in the draft returned to the bench at the start of the fourth quarter and played in the final period.
Dallas forward Maddy Siegrist scored 13 points in her first game after missing two months due to a knee injury. Arike Ogunbowale scored 14.
Last week the Wings (8-21) beat the Liberty 92-82, a game that became a distant memory Tuesday night.
New York (18-10) grabbed the lead out of the gate and held on to it throughout most of the game.
Two free throws by Bueckers tied the game at 34 in the final minutes of the first half, before Stephanie Talbot hit a 3-pointer to give New York a lead it never gave up the rest of the way.
Talbot reached double digits with 13 points while Sabrina Ionescu was relatively quiet, scoring nine points, three in the first half and six in the second.
The Wings stayed close for the first three quarter before the Liberty extended their advantage to double digits as the fourth wound down.