Ionescu's 26 points, 8 assists power Liberty to rout of Lynx

Sabrina Ionescu had 26 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to help the New York Liberty rout the visiting Minnesota Lynx 88-69 on Tuesday night.

The Liberty's No. 1 draft pick in 2020 had 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds in the first half, including hitting a shot from half-court at the end of the second quarter to give New York (4-8) a 45-37 advantage at the break. That brought her college coach at Oregon, Kelly Graves, to his feet in the stands.

Canada's Bridget Carleton had five points and three rebounds in 20 minutes of playing time for Minnesota.

New York took control in the third quarter behind Ionescu, extending the lead to 67-45 with 3:30 left. After hitting another deep 3 — her fourth of the game on four attempts — she shrugged her shoulders.

A few minutes before that, there was a brief stoppage in the third quarter during a timeout when protesters ran on the court in support of abortion rights. They were quickly taken off the floor by security, but given an ovation by the fans.

New York led 74-48 after three quarters and Minnesota (3-9) never threatened in the fourth. The teams also played on Sunday and the Lynx held on to win after nearly blowing a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter.

She's now had 20 or more points in four straight games for the first time in her young career. New York has won three of those.

Han Xu added a career-high 15 points for the Liberty. Kayla McBride scored 13 points to lead Minnesota.

Loyd, Stewart lead Storm over Dream

Jewell Loyd scored 26 points, Breanna Stewart had 19 points and seven rebounds, and the Seattle Storm beat the visiting Atlanta Dream 72-60 on Tuesday night.

Seattle led by as many as 17 points, but Atlanta went on a 13-0 run to get within 64-60 with 3:52 remaining. Stewart, who picked up her fifth foul with 6:01 left, ended Seattle's drought with a 3-pointer from the corner at 3:38. Neither team scored for the next two minutes until Gabby Williams was left open under the basket, and Ezi Magbegor added a 3-pointer as the Storm closed on an 8-0 run.

Magbegor had 12 points, seven rebounds and five blocks for Seattle (6-5). Stewart missed her first six shots before finishing 5 of 15 from the field and 6 of 6 at the stripe.

Cheyenne Parker had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta (7-5). Rookie Kristy Wallace added 12 points before fouling out late and Rhyne Howard scored 11 on 5-of-17 shooting. Erica Wheeler appeared to injure her ankle in the first quarter and did not return after playing three minutes.

After a nine-year career with the Storm, Tanisha Wright returned to Seattle as a first-year coach for Atlanta.