TORONTO — – Breanna Stewart scored 27 points to help the New York Liberty rout the Toronto Tempo 106-69 on Sunday and stay in the hunt for homecourt in the opening round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n
New York (26-16) could finish anywhere from fourth to eighth in the playoff standings with two games remaining. The Liberty host Atlanta on Monday and Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Stewart moved into eighth place in the WNBA’s all-time scoring list, passing Cappie Pondexter’s 6,811 points. She had six points in the first five minutes to move up on the career list. Stewart scored 24 to pass her former Seattle Storm teammate Sue Bird (6,803) in the Liberty’s 93-81 road victory over the first-place Minnesota Lynx on Friday.<\/p>\n
The Liberty star, who earned MVP honors of the women’s FIBA World Cup, played only 22 minutes and made 10 of 14 shots and all seven of her free throws for the Liberty. The nine-year veteran has 6,833 points – next up is Candice Dupree with 6,895.<\/p>\n
Reserve Rebecca Allen had 14 points for the Liberty and made four of the team’s 16 3-pointers.<\/p>\n
Stewart scored nine points to help New York take a 26-19 lead after one quarter and had 13 at the half for a 45-37 advantage. She help put the game away scoring 14 points in the third quarter as the Liberty outpaced Toronto by 11 that period en route to their third consecutive victory.<\/p>\n
Laura Juskaite scored a career-high 28 and Kiki Rice added 19 points in the home finale for the first-year Tempo (11-31), who have lost six in a row and 18 of 19 since a 93-91 road win over the Liberty on July 17.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
New York: Hosts Atlanta Dream on Monday.<\/p>\n
Toronto: At Chicago Sky on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
——<\/p>\n