Breanna Stewart leads Liberty to 76-67 victory over Lynx

With eight minutes left in the game Tuesday in New York, reserve Cecilia Zandalasini took a pass from Kayla McBride and scored to put the Lynx up four points on the Liberty.

In a game between two of the WNBA’s top three teams, just a week after the Lynx beat the Liberty in the Commissioner’s Cup final, it was another punch thrown in a heavyweight fight that began with the opening tip.

For the Lynx, the last one.

With shots not falling, with too many turnovers, with the Liberty pushing the intensity, the Lynx scored just two points the rest of the way in a 76-67 loss.

Liberty star Breanna Stewart started the game cold. Really cold. But in the end, she made a difference. Liberty center Jonquel Jones had been nearly invisible in two losses to the Lynx this season. Not this time.

Stewart finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds. Jones hit three of six threes, scored 21 points and had 12 rebounds. Together they scored 14 points in the fourth quarter when the Liberty (17-3) outscored the Lynx 18-8, marking the first time this year the Lynx (14-5) had a quarter where they didn’t score at least 10 points.

“I think our shots weren’t falling,” said Napheesa Collier. She scored 15 points with 10 rebounds and six assists. But she went scoreless in the fourth, 0-for-3 from the field, missing her one three-point attempt, missing her two free throws midway through the fourth quarter with the Lynx down just two points.

The Lynx defense, stout most of the season, was there. The Lynx held the Liberty to 37.3% shooting and 7-for-32 on threes, marking just the eighth time in 167 games since 2011 that the Lynx have lost when holding an opponent under 40%.

But there were other numbers that bothered Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve.

New York got 10 offensive rebounds — Jones had four of them — and turned them into a 14-8 edge in second-chance points.

The Liberty had a 45-37 edge in rebounding overall, not uncommon for the relatively undersized Lynx.

But even more worrisome were the team rebounds. Reeve, who was named WNBA coach of the month for June, considers team rebounds to be a strong gauge of which team is playing harder. Those come as a result of battles for loose balls. New York had a 9-3 edge there, too.

Both teams showed plenty of that through three quarters. With both teams trading mini-runs, the game was tied at 42 at the half and the Lynx led by a point entering the fourth.

That lead was four when Zandalasini — who had another strong game with 12 points — scored.

BOXSCORE: New York 76, Lynx 67

But over the final eight minutes, the Lynx went 1-for-11 overall, 0-for-5 on threes, 1-for-3 on free throws and turned the ball over four times.

What happened?

There is no question the Liberty physically took control of the game over the final 10 minutes. Stewart, 3-for-15 through three quarters, had nine points, six assists and two steals in the fourth. Jones, who had totaled seven points in two previous games vs. the Lynx, tripled that Tuesday.

The Lynx finished their three-game road trip having lost two of three. And it won’t get easier when they return home Thursday to host second-place Connecticut, their lead over fourth-place Seattle having shrunk to one game.

The Lynx, who have relied on balanced scoring much of the season, got just one point from Bridget Carleton, who was officially named to the Canadian Olympic team Tuesday. Starting point guard Courtney Williams had nine points on 3-for-13 shooting. Take out Zandalasini’s night — 5-for-6 shooting, 2-for-3 on threes — and the Lynx shot 21-for-61 (34.4%).

“We didn’t hit as many shots,” Reeve said. “I our recognition of seeing the paint and being physically tough waned in the fourth quarter.”