Liberty suffer brutal OT loss to Dream to fall into 0-2 series hole

ATLANTA – Game 2 of the Semifinals provided plenty of drama.The Liberty and Atlanta Dream battled in a game that included 17 lead changes and eight ties.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.

Rookie Marine Fauthoux drained a game-tying 3 with 9.9 seconds left.Rhyne Howard’s potential game-winner rolled off the rim. The two teams needed an extra five minutes to determine the winner. Ultimately, it was the Dream who beat the Liberty 101-98 in overtime to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.With the Liberty trailing by one, Jonquel Jones tried to back her way into the paint, but was swarmed by three Dream players, forcing a jump ball with 14.1 seconds left.New York retained the possession but the Liberty’s hopes of tying the series and potentially heading to their third WNBA Finals in four years flew off with Sabrina Ionescu’s an errant pass into the stands. After a promising Game 1 by Ionescu, the Liberty star guard struggled Wednesday.

Perhaps Ionescu’s own inconsistency is a microcosm of the Liberty’s season.New York’s been plagued with inconsistent stretches game over game and quarter by quarter.Ionescu had 27 points on 50 percent shooting in Game 1. On Wednesday, she finished with 10 points, seven assists and two turnovers — the last one was lethal.

Ionescu also missed four of her five free throws....