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 Stweart 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 percent 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.”
Minnesota — which will host Game 3 on Wednesday in Minneapolis — was led by 16 points from Napheesa Collier, 15 points from Courtney Williams and 14 points from Alanna Smith.
Much like Game 1, the Liberty built a big lead early. Unlike the series opener, though, they didn’t surrender it.
New York led 31-21 after the first quarter, powered by 12 points and two assists from Ionescu. In the second frame, the Liberty grew their lead to as many as 17 points with a 15-8 run that was capped off by a 3-pointer from Laney-Hamilton.
The Lynx started chipping away in the second half.
With 3:40 left to play, Minnesota trimmed the deficit to two points when Williams sliced through the heart of the defense for a layup. But on the next possession, Laney-Hamilton responded with authority, swishing a 3-pointer from the left wing. After a Stewart free throw, Leonie Fiebich then knocked down a wide-open 3-pointer — her only points of the game — in transition to push New York’s lead back to nine points with 90 seconds remaining.
Those buckets were the beginning of a game-closing 12-0 run for New York. After Williams’ layup, the Lynx didn’t score for the rest of the final period.
“Our pace was bad at a time when we really needed it. … I’m disappointed we let it get to 17. I’m more than disappointed — I’m pissed,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “This is a group that problem-solves well together. We put ourselves in position, just couldn’t get over the hump.”