Liberty beat Sparks 80-68 for 3rd straight win
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cappie Pondexter scored 19 points and the New York Liberty pulled away in the third quarter to beat the Los Angeles Sparks 80-68 Tuesday night for their third consecutive victory.
Noelle Quinn scored a career-high 24 points, topping her career-best for the second straight game, to lead the Sparks (3-11). They fell to 0-4 since leading scorer Candace Parker was lost for the season with a shoulder injury.
Marie Ferdinand-Harris, who replaced Parker in the starting lineup, added 12 points.
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Pondexter continued the tear she's been on for the last four games, maintaining her 20-point average over that stretch.
Former Sparks player Taj McWilliams-Franklin added 14 points and Plenette Pierson had 13 for the Liberty (7-7), who controlled the boards 35-22 and improved to 2-4 on the road.
New York led 44-35 at halftime, then used a 20-7 run to take its largest lead, 66-45, late in the third quarter. The Sparks chipped away at the deficit in the fourth, but never got closer than 12 points.
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The Liberty closed the first half on an 18-9 run. McWilliams-Franklin scored six points and Essence Carson added four.
The Sparks shot 62 percent from the floor in the first quarter, when their biggest lead was five points.