By ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu scored 20 points, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton had 17 and the New York Liberty never trailed on the way to their fifth straight win, a 99-67 romp over the Dallas Wings on Thursday night, Sept. 12.
Ionescu made 8 of 18 shots with four 3-pointers, and added six assists for New York (31-6), which has the league’s best record and beat the Wings for the second time in three days.
Laney-Hamilton sank three 3-pointers and half of her 12 shots, grabbing six rebounds.
Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot both scored 11 for the Liberty, while Leonie Fiebich added nine points off the bench.
Arike Ogunbowale and Maddy Siegrist both scored 11 to lead Dallas (9-28), which has lost six in a row.
Ionescu made two 3-pointers and Laney-Hamilton sank one as the Liberty jumped to a 9-0 lead. Jaelyn Brown hit from beyond the arc to get Dallas within 20-15, but Ionescu made a 3-pointer and reverse layup in the final 44 seconds to put the Liberty up 25-15 after one quarter.
Ionescu had 16 points by halftime and Laney-Hamilton scored 12 as the Liberty built a 50-32 halftime lead. The Dallas bench — led by seven from Brown — accounted for 14 points in the first half.
Satou Sabally’s layup pulled the Wings within 14 two minutes into the third quarter. Vandersloot and Ionescu answered with back-to-back layups and New York remained comfortably in front 73-55 heading to the fourth.
New York beat the Wings 105-91 on Tuesday to become the second team to post 30 victories in 36 games, joining two-time defending champion Las Vegas. The Aces did it last season when the league played a 40-game regular-season schedule for the first time. The Liberty need to win their last three games to tie the Aces’ record 34-6 mark.
