Kiki Iriafen scored nine of her 20 points in the final four minutes as the Washington Mystics roared back from an eight-point deficit to stun the host New York Liberty 86-83 on Friday.

The Mystics snapped the Liberty’s eight-game winning streak and earned their first victory over New York since the last day of the 2023 regular season. The Liberty had won 10 straight in the series.

All five starters finished in double figures for Washington (7-7). Sonia Citron had 16 points, Shakira Austin scored 14, Michaela Onyenwere contributed 11 and Georgia Amoore tallied 10 for the Mystics, who have won three of their past four. Amoore and Citron each dished out eight assists.

New York (11-5) was led by Leonie Fiebich, who had 19 points, including three 3-pointers. Breanna Stewart (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Jonquel Jones (10 points, 10 rebounds) each logged double-doubles for the Liberty.

The Mystics shot 32 free throws compared to 20 for New York. The game featured 19 ties and 12 lead changes.

New York took a 77-69 lead on a driving layup by Jones with 4:01 to go. The Mystics, who have the WNBA’s youngest team, responded with a 14-4 run and took the lead on a pair of Citron free throws with 1:09 remaining.

The Liberty’s Satou Sabally (13 points) tied the game at 83 by hitting two free throws with 48.6 seconds left. On the next possession with the shot clock running down, Citron lofted a pass to Iriafen, who laid it in with 26.9 seconds to go.

Iriafen made one of two free throws with 11.8 seconds after Stewart missed on a hook shot.

The Liberty called timeout to advance the ball past half-court. Sabrina Ionescu took a long 3-point attempt that missed. Fiebich grabbed the rebound and fed Sabally outside the arc, but Sabally’s shot was short at the buzzer.

There were eight ties in the first quarter as the teams continued to match one impressive shot-making feat with another.

Washington had the game’s first surge with a 9-4 run — with eight of the points coming from Citron — to grab a 32-27 lead with 6:57 left in the half. The Liberty answered with a 12-2 run to go up 39-34. New York held a 43-39 edge at halftime.

–Field Level Media

PHILADELPHIA — Matheus Cunha rewarded manager Carlo Ancelotti’s confidence with his first two World Cup goals as Brazil cruised to a 3-0 victory over Haiti on Friday, a result that was tempered only by Raphinha’s early injury exit.

Vinicius Junior also scored and was the creator on both of Cunha’s tallies.

An apparent leg injury forced Raphinha out in the 40th minute.

Overall, it was a much-improved effort from the Selecao’s 1-1 draw against Morocco to open the tournament and a result that puts Brazil (1-0-1, 4 points) above the Atlas Lions in Group C on goal differential.

Haiti (0-2-0, 0 points) became the first team eliminated from the World Cup with the loss and Morocco’s 1-0 win over Scotland earlier Friday.

Even so, they clearly enjoyed their second appearance at the tournament and first since 1974, and despite a lineup that suggested a low block, showed admirable endeavor before a vocal red-and-blue-clad minority.

Center back Ricardo Ade came closest to scoring for the Caribbeans after halftime when his flashing, near-post header from a corner forced Alisson into a strong reaction save.

Cunha was one of two changes by Ancelotti, slotted in for Igor Thiago at center forward. With the Manchester United man involved, the Brazilian attack looked much more connected than six days prior, albeit against a lesser opponent.

Eventually, they punished the Haitians’ enthusiasm after a bright first 15 minutes from the underdogs.

On Brazil’s first goal, Vinicius cut inside from the left and snapped a shot that Haitian goalkeeper Johny Placide could only parry with a strong palm.

Center back Hannes Delcroix attempted to clear the danger, but Cunha pressured and ultimately forced the ball across the line in the 23rd minute for just his second career goal for the Selecao.

That connection again surfaced in the 36th minute on a counterattack stemming from a Haitian turnover.

Vinicius slipped a ball into the path of Cunha’s well-timed diagonal run, and while Cunha appeared to stumble, he still struck a strong finish into the top corner as Placide leaned in the wrong direction.

It wasn’t clear what led to Raphinha dropping to his haunches moments after the second goal, on a night when he had one apparent early goal ruled offside and another glaring miss nullified by a raised flag.

Vinicius’ tally came just before the halftime whistle when he ran onto Lucas Paqueta’s ball over the top and finished low past the charging Placide.

–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media

Jose Altuve slugged a game-altering three-run homer and Jeremy Pena delivered a multi-homer game as the Houston Astros topped the visiting Cleveland Guardians 9-3 on Friday.

The Astros improved to 16-10 since May 22 and moved within five games of .500 for the first time since April 17. Altuve and Pena went a combined 5-for-9 with seven RBIs.

Guardians starter Tanner Bibee (2-8) allowed an unearned run in the first inning and a solo homer to Pena in the third that enabled the Astros to close within 3-2. He departed with one out and two runners on base in the sixth, and Altuve immediately took advantage.

Altuve launched a first-pitch fastball from Cleveland reliever Matt Festa into the left field seats for his eighth homer and a 5-3 lead.

Pena homered again leading off the seventh, and Altuve added an RBI double later in that frame. Guardians right-hander Daniel Espino surrendered both of those runs.

Pena smacked his fifth and sixth home runs for his third career multi-homer game.

Astros right-hander Tatsuya Imai (4-3) produced a quality start despite a lamentable third inning.

Imai struck out three batters in the top of the first but also surrendered singles to Travis Bazzana and Brayan Rocchio, foreshadowing his troubles with those hitters two innings later. Imai struck out three batters again in the second while working around a two-out single from Patrick Bailey.

Bazzana keyed a three-run third with a leadoff double. Rocchio drove in Bazzana with a one-out double, tying the score at 1-1. Rhys Hoskins then drilled a 1-1 slider from Imai out to left, his seventh home run covering 376 feet and spotting the Guardians a 3-1 lead.

Imai buckled down following Hoskins’ blast. He retired the final two batters of the third to ignite a string of 11 consecutive batters retired through the completion of his outing. Imai matched his season high by working six innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts.

Bibee wound up charged with four runs, three earned, on four hits in 5 1/3 innings. He fanned seven and walked two.

–Field Level Media