Breanna Stewart had 26 points and 12 rebounds, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot also had a double-doubles, and the New York Liberty handed coach Sandy Brondello a 94-74 birthday victory over the Dallas Wings on Tuesday night.
Jones had 23 points and 12 rebounds and Vandersloot 15 points and 11 assists for the Liberty (24-4), who gave Brondello four red velvet cupcakes before the game.
Kennedy Burke added 13 points off the bench in New York’s seventh-straight win, helping offset the absence of Sabrina Ionescu, who sat out with a sore neck.
Satou Sabally had 24 points for the Wings (6-21), giving her 44 in two games after missing the first 25 games of the season, before she played in the Olympics. Arike Ogunbowale had 17 points, including 13 in the second quarter, and Natasha Howard had 13. Maddy Siegrist had six points in her return from a broken finger.
New York was up nine entering the fourth quarter when Sabally scored five quick points, pulling the Wings within 69-65, the closest they got in the second half. New York responded with a 14-0 run, seven from Jones.
The Chelsea women’s soccer team, which beat Gotham 3-1 earlier in the day, watched the game between the teams who will play again on Thursday.
Stewart had 14 points and Jones 12 as the Liberty took a 48-39 lead at the half. The Liberty had 15 assists on 19 baskets and finished with 25 on 34 makes.
New York closed the first quarter with a 16-5 run and scored the first five points of the third quarter for a 31-16 lead before Ogunbowale scored her first basket.
The teams traded short runs in the third quarter and finished where they started with New York up nine. Sabally kept Dallas close with 11 points while Stewart had her 12th double-double before the Liberty took a 69-60 lead into the fourth quarter.
