Sports
Liberty's Breanna Stewart climbs scoring list as Mercury soar up standings
Jul 30, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) shoots the ball against Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young (0) during the fourth quarter of a WNBA basketball game at Michelob Ultra Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images New York’s Breanna Stewart moved into the top 10 in WNBA career scoring Thursday, but her focus was elsewhere after the Liberty’s 104-99 loss at Las Vegas.
“We were playing basketball against a good team, and they made more plays than us,” Stewart said. “Sometimes that’s the way it goes.”
Stewart and the Liberty (16-13) will wrap up their three-game road trip on Saturday against the Phoenix Mercury (11-18), who have won three straight.
Stewart scored 26 points against the Aces to give her 6,588 career points, 14 more than previous No. 10 Candace Parker. She added 11 rebounds and three steals.
“She made sure I was courtside for it,” joked Parker, a commentator on the Prime network broadcast.
Stewart has averaged 20.6 points in her 320 career games, almost two points a game more than any other player in the top 10. No. 1 Diana Taurasi (10,646) averaged 18.8 in her career.
The Liberty had a three-game winning streak broken in Las Vegas during an up-and-down stretch. They are 4-5 since beating the Aces for the Commissioner’s Cup on June 30, a game that did not count in the standings.
“It’s hard to have improvement off a loss,” Stewart said, “but I want to say this is improvement because we didn’t have to dig ourselves out of a hole.”
Sheis tied for third in the league this year with a 21.5 scoring average.
“We’re pretty resilient,” Liberty coach Chris Demarco said.
Phoenix’s DeWanna Bonner is third on the career scoring list (8,088, 14.3 average), and she had 17 points and 10 rebounds in a 91-89 victory over Golden State on Wednesday.
Alyssa Thomas, who leads the league with 8.3 assists per game, has been the key to the Mercury’s winning streak.
She had her first triple-double of the season — 19 points, 11 rebounds, 15 assists — in an 86-82 victory over the Sparks in the last game before the All-Star break and followed that with a season-high 25 points in Wednesday’s win over the Valkyries.
The 6-foot-2 Thomas was used as a point guard when the Mercury went to a big lineup in the fourth quarter-and she scored 15 of the team’s 31 points as they rallied to victory. She added nine rebounds and eight assists.
“I thought she played with force all night,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. ” ‘A.T.’ was fabulous (Wednesday). She was fabulous in L.A., and we need that version of her. That’s when we’re at our best.”
“My job is to get everybody else involved, and I felt that the fourth quarter was my time to take over a little bit,” Thomas said.
Guard Kahleah Copper had 27 points, her 10th 20-point game in the last 12, before fouling out against Golden State. She leads the Mercury and is tied for sixth in the league with 20.7 points per game.
The Mercury continue their climb toward a playoff berth on Monday in Chicago in the first game of a four-game, seven-day trip.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sabrina Ionescu (27 points), Liberty surge past Mercury
Aug 1, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) against Phoenix Mercury forward Noemie Brochant (1) in the first half at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Sabrina Ionescu had 27 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds and the New York Liberty overcame a 10-point second-half deficit for a 94-92 victory over the host Phoenix Mercury on Saturday afternoon.
Breanna Stewart had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Han Xu had season highs with 17 points and three 3-pointers for the Liberty (17-13), who have won four of five.
DeWanna Bonner had a season-high 25 points along with seven rebounds and Kahleah Copper also scored 25 for the Mercury (11-19), who had a three-game winning streak broken.vAlyssa Thomas contributed 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Jonquel Jones added 16 points and nine rebounds, and her putback gave the Liberty an 89-83 lead with 1:38 left. Rebecca Allen’s 3-pointer on the next possession made it 92-84.
The Liberty swept the three-game season series after winning back-to-back games in New York on May 27 and 29.
Bonner made a 3-pointer after a New York turnover to close the gap to 92-90 with 24.1 seconds remaining after the last of three straight Liberty turnovers.
Stewart hit two free throws with 12.7 left for a 94-90 lead. Thomas’ layup with four seconds left brought the Mercury close, but the Liberty inbounded the ball and the Mercury could not foul as time expired.
The Liberty had a 37-23 rebounding edge, 16 second-chance points and 44 points in the paint.
Ionescu had seven points in the first quarter, when the Liberty scored 11 of the first 12 points and used a late 9-2 run for a 26-15 edge at the quarter. Their largest lead of the game was 13.
Bonner scored eight points as the Mercury closed the second quarter on an 18-9 stretch to get within 46-43 at the break. Stewart, who passed Candace Parker as the 10th-leading all-time scorer in the league Thursday, had six points in the first half.
Noemie Brochant’s 3-pointer gave the Mercury their first lead at 50-48 with 8:17 left in the third quarter.
Copper’s second 3-pointer capped a 12-0 run to give the Mercury their largest lead at 62-52 with 4:06 remaining in the third. The Liberty closed on a 12-1 run capped by Ionescu’s 3-pointer for a 66-65 edge.
The Liberty did not trail the rest of the way.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pirates acquire veteran RHP Camilo Doval from Yankees
May 27, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Camilo Doval (75) delivers a pitch against the Kansas City Royals during the ninth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired right-handed reliever Camilo Doval from the New York Yankees on Saturday in exchange for two prospects.
Doval, 29, is 3-1 with one save and a 4.54 ERA in 44 appearances out of the New York bullpen this season. The Pirates were seeking late-game relief help.
The Yankees received catcher Omar Alfonzo and outfielder Luis Cruz in the deal. New York also included cash as part of the trade.
New York acquired Doval, a former All-Star closer, in a deal with the San Francisco Giants at last year’s trade deadline.
Doval is 29-20 with 109 saves and a 3.53 ERA in 341 career relief outings with the Giants (2021-25) and Yankees. He tied for the National League lead with 39 saves in 2023 when he made the NL All-Star team.
Alfonzo, 22, was batting .238 with nine homers and 35 RBIs in 62 games this season, including 60 for Double-A Altoona.
Cruz, 18, was batting .300 with eight RBIs and eight steals in 19 games for the Pirates’ Dominican Summer League affiliate.
The MLB trade deadline is Monday at 6 p.m. ET.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Blazers sign F Jeremy Sochan to one-year contract
Mar 22, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks forward Jeremy Sochan (20) runs up court after a basket during the second half against the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Portland Trail Blazers forward Jeremy Sochan agreed to a one-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, per ESPN.
Sochan was the ninth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs.
Across three-plus seasons with the Spurs, he averaged 10.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 212 games (149 starts). He shot 46.8% from the field and 28.7% from 3-point range.
He was waived by the Spurs in February. He then signed with the New York Knicks.
The 23-year-old only appeared in 16 regular season games for the Knicks, averaging a meager 6.9 minutes per game. In that limited run, he averaged 2.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists, while shooting 56.7% from the field.
During the postseason, he appeared in eight games during the team’s championship run, playing 26 total minutes and averaging 2.5 points.
Now, the former lottery pick will look to earn a bigger role on a revamped Blazers squad. Portland has a loaded backcourt with Damian Lillard, Ja Morant, Jrue Holiday, Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson. The 6-foot-8 Sochan will give them frontcourt depth behind Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara.
–Field Level Media
Sabrina Ionescu (27 points), Liberty surge past Mercury
Pirates acquire veteran RHP Camilo Doval from Yankees
