Dallas Controlled the Middle of the Game
The Wings took a 68-59 lead into the fourth quarter by making the difficult parts of offense look unusually cooperative. Dallas shot 52 percent from three for the night, received 29 points from Arike Ogunbowale and carried a real chance to win without Paige Bueckers, who had been ruled out with soreness before tipoff.
That matters because this was not a depleted team simply hanging around until the favorite became serious. Dallas led by nine after three quarters and kept finding enough shooting to make New York defend the full floor. Jessica Shepard added 13 points, 16 rebounds and six assists, while Azzi Fudd scored 15.
The young contender did plenty to earn the final possession. It just could not make that possession behave.
Stewart Forced Five More Minutes
New York won the fourth quarter 24-15. Breanna Stewart supplied the weight behind the comeback, finishing with 33 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists while also protecting the rim on a late Ogunbowale drive.
Stewart’s two free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining put the Liberty ahead 82-81. Ogunbowale answered with two of her own to tie the game at 83 with 3.5 seconds left, and Rebecca Allen missed a long three at the horn.
The Liberty had erased Dallas’ nine-point advantage, but they had not solved the night. Overtime required a different closer.
Ionescu Took the Extra Period
Sabrina Ionescu scored 12 of New York’s 16 overtime points. She opened her work with a three-point play, added two pull-up jumpers, hit a three with 1:49 left and followed it with a driving layup that pushed the Liberty ahead 97-93.
Dallas kept answering. Ogunbowale’s three with 27.5 seconds left cut New York’s lead to one, and the Wings got the final shot after a Liberty shot-clock turnover. Ogunbowale reached the rim, but her running layup missed as time expired.
New York’s stars did not make the escape comfortable. They made it final.
The Desk Metric: 12 of 16
The verified Overtime Closer was Ionescu scoring 12 of New York’s 16 overtime points. Dallas had the better three-point percentage, 52 to 28, but the Liberty owned a 48-34 rebounding advantage and placed the deciding possessions in veteran hands.
That is the useful distinction. New York did not suddenly become the cleaner team in every category. It survived the category that decides close games: who can create a good shot after everybody in the building knows where the ball is going.
The Desk Has Ruled
Desk ruling: the Liberty ended their skid by turning one extra period into an Ionescu showcase. Dallas proved it could push a contender to the final second without Bueckers, but New York’s championship standard finally produced the late-game execution it keeps demanding.