WASHINGTON — Breanna Stewart had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and the New York Liberty coasted to an 87-71 victory over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday night to clinch 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. That could be the Mystics, who are tied with Chicago, one game behind Atlanta heading into Thursday’s finales.
Leonie Fiebich scored 13 points and fellow reserve Nyara Sabally had 12 for the Liberty (32-7). Starters Jonquel Jones and Betnijah Lane-Hamilton both 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 the 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 the Liberty led the rest of the way. Stewart’s basket produced the big lead at 26-12 and the lead was 29-18 after one quarter.
New York’s front line combined for 26 points in building a 47-37 halftime lead.
The Liberty pushed the lead to 22 points in the third quarter.
The Liberty had a 50-18 advantage on points in the paint and 16-2 on second-chance points. The rebounding difference was 45-29, 12-3 on the offensive end.