Stewart scores 43 to lift Liberty to 99-95 win over the Mercury and Griner

By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Breanna Stewart scored 43 points and the New York Liberty recovered from blowing a 20-point lead to beat the Phoenix Mercury 99-95. Stewart helped the Liberty build a 73-53 lead with 4 minutes left in the third quarter before Phoenix rallied to tie it at 92 all and then Michaela Onyenwere scored to give the Mercury their first lead since the opening minutes. Jonquel Jones answered with a layup and then Courtney Vandersloot stole a pass and fed Stewart for a layup with 1:19 left to give New York the 94-92 advantage. The Liberty (12-4) would never relinquish the lead.  Brittney Griner had 21 points. Diana Taurasi finished with 23 points as she continued on her path to 10,000 career points. The WNBA’s all-time scoring leader has 9,881 now.