Liberty vs. Mercury: Pauline Astier's 16 Hand Phoenix a Fifth Straight Loss in 75-68 New York Win

Two days after a 23-0 run buried them in Brooklyn, the Phoenix Mercury got a rematch in the same building and a much better script. Better, as it turned out, did not mean different.

The New York Liberty hung on for a 75-68 win on Friday night at Barclays Center, handing Phoenix its fifth straight loss behind 16 points from rookie Pauline Astier and 13 off the bench from Betnijah Laney-Hamilton. The Mercury never led, and they still had a look at a tying three in the final 20 seconds.

No Avalanche, Just a Slow Squeeze

The opening minutes were rough on the eyes, with the teams combining to miss their first eight shots. New York found its range first, hitting four threes in the first quarter while Phoenix went 5-of-18, and the Liberty led 17-11. Two of those threes belonged to Marine Johannes, giving her 29 through nine games, a Liberty franchise record for that span, past Sabrina Ionescu's mark from 2023.

The Mercury shot 29 percent in the first half and trailed only 34-31, largely because New York kept giving the ball away, with 10 turnovers against 13 made shots.

It was tied at 39 in the third before the Liberty scored nine straight. Phoenix kept coming, getting within 54-52 in the last minute of the period, but New York pulled away again early in the fourth. The sequence that made it 67-57 with 6:59 left belongs in a highlight reel: Jonquel Jones blocked Kahleah Copper, Astier fired a long pass upcourt and Rebekah Gardner finished the layup.

Then New York went cold. The Liberty did not score for 3:43, and Phoenix ran off eight in a row on Monique Akoa Makani's 26-foot three, a Copper three-point play and two DeWanna Bonner free throws to make it 67-65. Astier's driving layup finally stopped the run. Jones hit two free throws, Akoa Makani answered from 25 feet to make it 71-68 with 45.8 seconds left, and Alyssa Thomas came up with a steal on the next trip. Phoenix had a chance to tie, but Bonner's deep try missed. Astier sank two free throws at 8.8 seconds, Laney-Hamilton added two more at 0.8, and the Liberty could finally breathe.

Astier Keeps Filling the Box

Astier's line was the best thing on the floor: 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, a career-high six rebounds, six assists, two turnovers and a game-best plus-10. The Liberty say only two other rookies in WNBA history have matched that kind of night, defined as 12-plus points, six-plus rebounds and six-plus assists on 75 percent shooting with no more than two turnovers, and both went on to win Rookie of the Year. No pressure, kid. She also reached 100 career points, joining a list of only four Liberty rookies since 2000 to do it in fewer than 10 games.

Laney-Hamilton gave New York the lift it needed, shooting 5-of-6 at the line, and Han Xu matched that energy with nine points and six rebounds, both season bests. Breanna Stewart was quiet by her standards at nine points on 4-of-11, though she added eight rebounds and four assists. Jones went 2-of-9 but grabbed nine boards and blocked two shots. Satou Sabally got her first look at her former team since leaving Phoenix in free agency, coming off the bench for four points in 10 minutes.

Copper was a study in stubbornness. She missed her first seven shots, finished 4-of-16 and 1-of-8 from three, and still scored 14 of her 16 in the second half, mostly by attacking until something gave. Thomas had 15 points, eight assists and three steals, and the Mercury say her 73 assists lead the league by 21. Natasha Mack had a career-high five steals to go with nine rebounds. Akoa Makani, in her second game back, scored 13 and hit three of her four threes.

The Turning Point: Astier at 3:16

Phoenix had the momentum, the crowd of 17,579 was getting nervous and the Liberty had not scored in nearly four minutes. Breanna Stewart found Astier, and the rookie drove all the way to the rim for a layup that made it 69-65. It was not a flashy play. It just meant the Mercury's next possession was about getting back within two instead of taking the lead, and that is often the entire difference between a collapse and a win. New York never let Phoenix closer than three after that.

Stats That Matter

• 40-23: New York's edge on the boards, with 40 a season high for the Liberty.
• 22-8: Phoenix's advantage in points off turnovers, thanks to 19 New York giveaways against nine of its own. The Mercury won this column and still lost.
• 21-of-62: Phoenix from the field, or 34 percent. New York shot 43.
• 32-16: Bench scoring, Liberty.
• 6-of-24: The Mercury from three, a number that made a comeback harder than it needed to be.

What It Means

New York improves to 5-4 and 3-3 at home with its second straight win, and the Liberty have clinched the season series with Phoenix. A few days of rest come next, followed by a visit from the Toronto Tempo and their coach, former Liberty boss Sandy Brondello.

Phoenix falls to 2-7 and 1-4 on the road. The five-game losing streak is the franchise's first since 2023, according to the AP. The Mercury did hold Johannes to six points after her 21 on Wednesday, and they forced plenty of mistakes, but they keep waiting on the shots to fall. They go home to face Minnesota on Monday night.

Groundhog Day in Brooklyn

The Mercury just lived their own Groundhog Day: same building, same opponent, two days apart and the same alarm clock going off at the final horn. In the movie, Bill Murray eventually cracks the code through repetition and self-improvement. Phoenix showed some of the self-improvement part on Friday, turning a 23-0 collapse into a game that was still alive in the final 20 seconds. The trouble is that the standings do not give partial credit, and 2-7 is still 2-7.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press, the New York Liberty and the Phoenix Mercury.