Liberty Downs Dallas For 30th Win

The New York Liberty secured their 30th victory of the season with a convincing triumph over the Dallas Wings.

Aug 15, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) and guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) celebrate in the first half against the LA Sparks Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

No. 30 played a major role in the New York Liberty's No. 30.

Breanna Stewart led the way for a resurgent Liberty effort with assistance from Sabrina Ionescu and more, as New York rolled to a 105-91 victory over the Dallas Wings on Tuesday night in Arlington. With the win, New York (30-6) becomes the first WNBA team to pick up at least 30 wins in multiple seasons, doing so last year en route to the WNBA Finals.

How the Liberty responded to Sunday's bittersweet win over Las Vegas, one where New York held on for a four-point win despite leading by as much as 20, was poised to set a tone for the rest of the season. With the exception of a 5-5 tie, the Liberty led for the entire game, partly paced by Stewart's 27 points and Ionescu's 14-tally, 11-assist double-double.

While New York was displeased over the final defensive tally (the 91 points they gave up was their third-worst showing of the year), the offensive proved impressive: five different Brooklynites reached double-figures, all of them making contributions to the Liberty's final output of 16 consecutive three-pointers. On 29 attempts, the resulting success rate of 55.2 percent was their best since the return from the All-Star/Olympic break and their second-best all season.

Elsewhere among the 10-point women were Jonquel Jones (19) and rookie Leonie Fiebich, who tied her career-best with 16. Perhaps most inspiring was the return of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who paired 10 with five assists. Laney-Hamilton immediately returned to action after a distressing incident in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game, one where she was forced to leave the game after making contact with Jones.

The biggest threat to the Liberty lead came in the third quarter when the Wings narrowed the gap to eight thanks to the efforts of Arike Ogunbowale and former New Yorker Natasha Howard. From there, the Liberty scored the next 13 to permanently place momentum in their corner.

Despite several valiant efforts this season, Dallas (9-27) is one of two teams already removed from playoff consideration. That's hardly the fault of Ogunbowale, who led the Wings with 23 in defeat after going scoreless in the opening period. The most recent WNBA All-Star Game MVP is now just 11 points away from passing Deanna Nolan for the franchise record.

The Liberty will be staying in North Texas as a rematch with the Wings awaits on Thursday (8 p.m. ET, WWOR).

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