FOR THE FIRST TIME since July 6, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton scored 20 points, and she did so in a game where the New York Liberty desperately needed it.
“What ‘B’ brings is like, this grit, this toughness. She’s giving us whatever she’s got,” Liberty forward Breanna Stewart said. “They were going under on her and she knocked that thing down with confidence. It was good to see her get into a good rhythm.”
Behind Laney-Hamilton’s breakout performance, and 21 points and a WNBA Finals-record seven steals from Stewart, host New York evened the score against the Minnesota Lynx in the championship series, winning Game 2 80-66 on Sunday afternoon in front of 18,046 fans — a record crowd for WNBA at the Barclays Center.
Stewart also had eight rebounds and five assists while shooting 7-of-18 from the floor in a stat-stuffing performance. Laney-Hamilton, a ninth-year forward, shot 8-of-14 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from 3-point land, and also had two rebounds and two assists.
The Liberty, who tied up the best-of-five series at 1-1, also got 14 points and nine rebounds from Jonquel Jones and 15 points and five assists from Sabrina Ionescu.
Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said Laney-Hamilton hadn’t been 100% healthy in the postseason, but on Sunday, she provided a big boost.
“She was massive,” Brondello said. “They had been going under on screens, so we encouraged her to shoot the 3. B helped us get this margin and win the game.” — Reuters
