Ionescu scores 100th career 3-pointer, leads Liberty past Dream
Howard adds 19 points, Johannes has 17 in New York's 2nd straight win
Sabrina Ionescu scored 21 points, Natasha Howard had 19 and Marine Johannes added 17 as the visiting New York Liberty defeated the Atlanta Dream 89-77 on Friday night.
The Liberty (8-10) made a season-high 16 3-pointers, with five each by Ionescu and Johannes. Howard had 10 rebounds, and Ionescu had nine rebounds and eight assists.
Ionescu, Crystal Dangerfield and Sami Whitcomb opened the fourth quarter with 3-pointers and Howard scored the final four points of a 13-4 run that gave the Liberty an 81-68 lead with 4:56 remaining. New York led by double digits the rest of the way.
IonescuĀ scored her 100th career 3-pointer in the game.
100 career threes for <a href="https://twitter.com/sabrina_i20?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sabrina_i20</a> š¤ <a href="https://t.co/xEA3ddC7qI">pic.twitter.com/xEA3ddC7qI</a>
—@WNBAAfter shooting 56% in the first half and leading 53-43 at halftime, the Liberty missed 11 of their first 15 shots in the third quarter as Atlanta closed within 63-59 with 2:10 remaining in the quarter.
AD Durr led Atlanta (8-9) with 23 points in 29 minutes off the bench. Rhyne Howard had 19 points and eight rebounds and Aari McDonald scored 12 points.
The Liberty led from the start and a 12-0 run gave them a 17-4 lead with 4:38 remaining in the first quarter. They went on to lead 33-16 after one period. The 33 points were a season-high for the opening quarter.
