Associated Press
NEW YORK — Tina Charles had 21 points and 14 rebounds and the New York Liberty used a late 12-1 run to beat the Seattle Storm 94-86 in WNBA action Sunday.
The Liberty trailed 83-80 with 3:05 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Shavonte Zellous made a 3-pointer that tied the game and ignited the decisive burst. On the next play, Bria Hartley stripped the ball from Seattle’s Jewell Loyd and converted a layup that gave New York the lead for good.
A free throw by Alysha Clark got the Storm within 85-84 but Kiah Stokes’ put-back made it 87-84 with 1:15 left. Seattle then turned the ball over on the next possession and Zellous converted another layup to all but seal the win and give New York (6-3) its fourth straight victory.
Sugar Rodgers had 20 points and Zellous 16 for New York.
“We had total confidence down the stretch,” Charles said. “Sugar and Shavonte came up with big plays for us.”
Breanna Stewart finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Storm (5-4). Sue Bird scored a season-high 21 points and Loyd had 19.
New York held an 11-point lead in the second quarter before Stewart and Bird rallied Seattle within 43-40 by halftime. Stewart had 14 points and Bird added 13 in the opening 20 minutes. Charles led New York with 13.
“(We) put ourselves in a hole early on, it takes a lot of energy to fight back from that,” Bird said. “Down the stretch, they made more plays than we did. We had some costly turnovers and they were able to get just enough of a lead. When there’s 45 seconds, five is just enough of a lead to secure it.”
After leading wire-to-wire in their previous two games, the Liberty gave up the first basket of the game, ending that streak. It was the first time since 1999 that New York had consecutive games where it never trailed.
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