WASHINGTON — Breanna Stewart had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and the New York Liberty cruised to an 87-71 victory over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night to claim the best record in the WNBA.
The Liberty will be the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and open at home on Sunday against the eighth seed. It could be the Mystics, who are tied with Chicago, one game behind Atlanta heading into Thursday’s finals.
Leonie Fiebich scored 13 points and sophomore reserve Nyara Sabally had 12 for Liberty (32-7). Starters Jonquel Jones and Betnijah Lane-Hamilton each added 11.
Ariel Atkins had 22 points for the Mystics (13-26). They play Indiana on Thursday, while Chicago is at Connecticut and Atlanta is at Liberty.
Julie Vanloo hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring for Washington, but four New York starters combined for the next 10 points and Liberty led the rest of the way. Stewart’s basket gave the big lead at 26-12 and the lead was 29-18 after one quarter.
New York’s front line combined for 26 points and built a 47-37 halftime lead.
Liberty pushed the lead to 22 points in the third quarter.
Liberty held a 50-18 advantage in points in the paint and 16-2 in second-chance points. The rebound difference was 45-29, 12-3 on offense.