Liberty pull away late in win over Angel Reese, Sky

The double-double waiting to happen arrived at Barclays Center. And not only was Angel Reese riding a WNBA-record run of 14 straight games seeing double-doubles, but her rebounding average stood at a league-leading and league-record pace.

The Liberty didn’t want Caitlin Clark’s competition for Rookie of the Year to do her part and help ruin their back side of a back-to-back and their front side of a home-and-home set with the Chicago Sky.

As it turned it out, the Liberty held Reese to 5-for-17 shooting. The 6-3 All-Star forward barely made it 15 straight double-doubles with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Sabrina Ionescu scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half and the Liberty pulled away in the final 6 1⁄2 minutes, claiming a 91-76 win on Thursday night in front of a sellout crowd of 17,758.

It was the Liberty’s largest crowd ever at Barclays Center.

“Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart — they just anchor us,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said, explaining the effectiveness against Reese. “We do a really good job of protecting the rim because we’ve got these players.

“ . . . She’s a tough competitor. We have to be locked in, and that’s what the players were. They took pride in doing a good job on her, and it helped us get the win tonight.”

Brondello said the 6-3 All-Star forward has “got an engine, and she’s going to continue to grow.”

Reese had broken Candace Parker’s record of 12 straight double-doubles on Sunday.

“I think I’ve done a great job of being able to be consistent and I’ve broken the record already,” Reese said. “So [it’s] just being able to just be me and doing what my teammates need.”

The seventh overall pick out of LSU is averaging 13.8 points. And she’s averaging 11.82 rebounds after starting the day at 11.91. The retired Sylvia Fowles owns the single-season record at 11.88.

So will it be Clark or Reese?

“I don’t think about the Rookie of the Year stuff,” Reese said. “Obviously, I’m just here to win. I want to make it to the playoffs, [go] as far as we can. Chicago deserves something big.”

Stewart also contributed something big offensively with 19 points for the Liberty (19-4), who trailed by 13 in the second quarter. Jones delivered 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks, and Kayla Thornton scored 16.

Backup center Nyara Sabally returned for the Liberty after missing 14 games with a back injury. But they were without Betnijah Laney-Hamilton for the second consecutive game and fifth overall due to a right knee issue. Brondello called her “day to day.”

The Liberty were clinging to a 70-68 lead in the fourth. But they closed with a 21-8 run.

When Ionescu sank a three-pointer from 28 feet, the lead was up to 78-70. When Ionescu sank a three from 31 feet, it was 81-72. The margin continued to swell.

“I kind of hung my head at halftime and then came back to start that third with kind of an understanding that I need to go out there and put the ball in the basket for this team to win,” said Ionescu, who shot 6-for-9 after going 1-for-8 in the first half.

The Sky (9-13), who were topped by Chennedy Carter’s 22 points, took a 37-24 lead with 6:01 remaining in the second quarter. But the Liberty trailed just 40-38 by the intermission.

Reese limped off with 6:11 left in the third and Chicago up 49-47. It was a minor problem.

But when she returned about four minutes later, the Liberty were about to complete a 14-2 run that put them up by seven.

By the end of three, though, they led by one, 63-62.

So they held Chicago to 14 points in the final quarter.

“I think we’ve got the tools to be a great defensive team,” Brondello said. “It’s the consistency.”