Mercury can’t complete late comeback in loss to Liberty

PHOENIX (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu had 27 points and 10 assists, Han Xu scored 17 points off the bench, and the New York Liberty edged the Phoenix Mercury 94-92 on Saturday.

Xu, who had 11 points in nine minutes in the first half because Jonquel Jones was in foul trouble, shot 6 of 9 from the field, including 3 for 6 on 3-pointers. Jones had half her 16 points in the fourth quarter with nine rebounds and five assists.

Breanna Stewart had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Liberty (17-13), who finished 19 of 19 from the foul line.

DeWanna Bonner and Kahleah Copper both had 25 points for the Mercury (11-19) and Alyssa Thomas had 17 points. Bonner played in her 565th career WNBA game, tied for second with Diana Taurasi for most in a career.

New York had an eight-point lead entering the final minute but Copper, who had her 10th game of at least 25 points, made a pair of free throws and when Bonner hit a 3 with 24.1 seconds to go it was 92-90.

It took the Mercury 11 seconds to commit two fouls, which sent Stewart to the line for a four-point lead with 13 to play. Thomas answered with a layup with four seconds to go but time ran out.

Phoenix starts a four-game, seven-day road trip in Chicago on Monday.

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