Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones lift Liberty to fourth straight win

The Liberty are in the midst of a taxing stretch, four games over six days in Brooklyn, followed by a coast-to-coast flight, followed by two games in three days in L.A. It’s part of their eight-games-in-14-days agenda. But they’re playing in a no-excuse zone.

“We’re not going to use it as an excuse because at the end of the day, no one cares,” Sabrina Ionescu said.

They haven’t needed an excuse anyway. The Liberty keep on winning no matter what.

After trouncing Indiana by 18 Sunday and rallying from 18 down to beat Seattle Tuesday, the Liberty tipped off an Atlanta-Minnesota back-to-back set Thursday night at Barclays Center.

If they were feeling fatigued, they sure didn’t show it. The Liberty beat the Dream, 95-84.

Breanna Stewart went 14-for-16 from the line and delivered 33 points and 12 rebounds. Jonquel Jones contributed her fourth straight double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds. And Betnijah Laney scored 12 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter.

So the Liberty have won four straight, improving their franchise-best start to 18-5. They’re 3-0 with one to go in this run at home and 4-1 with three remaining in this stretch overall.

“I think we just have the mindset of no excuses,” Stewart said. “This is the way that our schedule is and this is what we have in front of us. Sometimes if you think about things, it kind of causes them to happen. You think about you’re tired, then you actually are tired.

“So we’re continuing to have a positive mindset, knowing that we have depth behind us if somebody needs a sub …”

This time, the Liberty built an 18-point lead in the second quarter and the Dream (13-11) made a comeback.

The margin was 15 at halftime. Atlanta opened the third with a 10-2 run. Allisha Gray, who topped the Dream with 25 points, nailed a three to cut it to 59-52.

Jones, the 6-6 center, responded with a three.

“Fortunately, when I was growing up, I played the point guard position and the guard position a lot,” Jones said. “So I have a lot of guard skills.”

But Atlanta kept chipping away, getting it down to 67-62. The Liberty took a 73-66 advantage into the fourth.

Then Laney drove for two, Ionescu fed Kayla Thornton for a layup, Laney buried an open three from the left corner and Laney made a 14-footer — nine straight points to start the quarter. Suddenly, it was 82-66. The Dream couldn’t get it under 10 from there.

“She’s just a winner,” coach Sandy Brondello said of Laney. “She just competes. She always has to guard the best player on the other team. She knows what she does well.”

The Liberty had hit eight of their first nine shots and went up 18-2.

Their lead was at nine in the second quarter, and then Stewart and Ionescu nailed threes to ignite an 11-2 run, good for a 46-28 advantage.

Brondello’s summation was simple: “I think we played another really solid game.”

Notes & quotes: Stewart became the first player in WNBA history with 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in a half. She became the second player in WNBA history with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and no turnovers in a game. Ionescu was the first. Stewart also reached 500 points the fastest in franchise history (23 games). And her 16 free-throw attempts matched the franchise record. “Stewie was aggressive, and that’s what we needed her for, to get in there,” Brondello said. … This marked the ninth time in Jones’ career that she posted four straight double-doubles. … Ionescu had 12 points and nine assists.