The Fateful 18: Liberty Stifle Storm With Ionescu Triple-Double and More

Sabrina Ionescu's fourth career triple-double set the tone for a New York Liberty comeback against the Seattle Storm.

NEW YORK-More history awaited the New York Liberty on Tuesday night at Barclays Center ... and somehow a 2-of-14 night from the field for Sabrina Ionescu was a major, positive part of that.

Ionescu's serendipitous triple-double set the pace for a metropolitan comeback, as the Liberty took an 86-82 decision from the Seattle Storm in the second game of a four-leg homestand. The WNBA's three-point queen had a dozen points, rebounds, and assists each as the Liberty (17-5) erased a deficit that reached as high as 18 en route to their third consecutive victory. 

The trio of twelves allowed Ionescu to secure the fourth triple-double of her career, second to only Alyssa Thomas of Connecticut. It came as the Liberty tallied 51 points over the final 16-plus minutes of game time, paced by the New York-best 22 points from former Pacific Northwesterner Breanna Stewart. 

New York partly built its comeback on second chance points, outscoring Seattle 20-4 in the category thanks to a plus-12 rebounding margin. Ionescu led the way alongside Jonquel Jones, the latter bringing in a season-best 17. 

Seattle (4-19) was forced to deal with its 10th consecutive defeat in the first year of the post-Stewart/Sue Bird era. WNBA leading scorer Jewell Loyd led the way with 32 points, most of it coming while the Storm built its early advantage. New York secured its first season sweep of Seattle since 2014.

The Liberty's homestand continues on Thursday night when the Liberty play the Atlanta Dream in the first half of a back-to-back

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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