Mitchell hits 3-pointers, helps Liberty beat Shock 92-78 in Jones’ best game yet in WNBA

Mitchell leads Liberty past Shock, 92-78

TULSA, Okla. — Leilani Mitchell set career highs with six 3-pointers and 20 points, Nicole Powell added 16 points and the New York Liberty beat the Tulsa Shock 92-78 on Friday night to give Anne Donovan the 150th victory of her WNBA coaching career.

Mitchell matched a WNBA record with four 3-pointers in the first quarter to help the Liberty (5-7) open a double-digit lead they wouldn’t relinquish. She added back-to-back 3s in the third quarter as New York stretched its lead to 65-40 before holding off a comeback bid by Tulsa (3-10).

Former Olympic track star Marion Jones had career highs with eight points and 15 minutes for the Shock. She also notched the first two blocks of her WNBA career, swatting away shots by the taller Plenette Pierson and Janel McCarville in the third quarter.

Jennifer Lacy scored 16 to lead Tulsa, which lost for the seventh straight time.

New York connected on 14 of 22 from behind the arc and took control with an early onslaught by Mitchell, who had never made more than three 3-pointers in her first two-plus seasons in the league.

Mitchell hit four of New York’s record-tying seven 3-pointers in the first quarter, and the Liberty opened a 29-17 lead on Powell’s fast-break layup late in the period. New York started out 7 for 10 from behind the 3-point line to match the record for 3-pointers in a quarter set by the Minnesota Lynx against the Shock in 2007.

Tulsa was never closer than nine after that and trailed by at least 11 throughout the second half.

Cappie Pondexter had 15 points for New York and Pierson, who was traded from the Shock to the Liberty 11 days earlier, scored 11 points in 14 minutes.

Starting guard Shanna Crossley, who had been hospitalized with a staph infection in her leg, got a hug from coach Nolan Richardson after she got to the Tulsa locker room. She was not in uniform and missed her second straight game.