Breanna Stewart has 19 points in return from injury to lift New York to 81-79 win over Connecticut

Audio By Carbonatix

NEW YORK (AP) — Breanna Stewart scored 19 points in her return from injury and Jonquel Jones added 18 to help the New York Liberty beat the Connecticut Sun 81-79 on Monday night.

Stewart missed the previous 13 games with a bone bruise in her right knee. She was limited to just 21 minutes, but made the most of them.

New York (23-15) trailed 59-58 heading into the final quarter before Jones hit a 3-pointer to get them going. The teams exchanged the lead over the next few minutes before the Liberty went on a 9-0 run to take a 74-66 lead with 3:47 left. Sabrina Ionescu hit four three throws to get the run started and Emma Meesseman capped it with a layup.

Connecticut (9-28) didn't go away and got to 81-79 with 23.6 seconds left after Aaliyah Edwards hit two free throws.

Ionescu then ran the clock down before Stewart threw the ball away to Leila Lacan. She went the length of the court but Ionescu hustled back and stripped the ball from Lacan with 2.2 seconds left to seal the win.

The Sun snapped their season-best three-game winning streak. Aneesah Morrow had 18 points and 15 rebounds to lead Connecticut.

New York built a 27-15 lead after one quarter as Jones and Stewart staked them out to the big lead. Connecticut rallied behind Lacan, who was a last-minute addition to the lineup. She was doubtful to play before the game because of an injury in her right eye suffered in the last game.

She finished with 22 points.

___

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball