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ATLANTA — Game 2 provided plenty of drama.
The Liberty and Atlanta Dream battled in a game that included 17 lead changes and eight ties. Rookie Marine Fauthoux drained a game-tying 3 with 9.9 seconds left in regulation.
Rhyne Howard’s potential game-winner rolled off the rim.
The teams needed an extra five minutes to determine the winner.
Ultimately, it was the Dream who beat the Liberty 101-98 in overtime Wednesday night 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 in overtime.
The Liberty retained possession, but the Liberty’s hopes of tying the series went with Sabrina Ionescu’s 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 after 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.
The first half felt like the inverse of Game 1. The Dream outplayed the Liberty and yet New York hung around. There were 13 lead changes and six ties over the first 20 minutes.
Twenty-seven foul calls in the first half disrupted the flow of the game. Breanna Stewart and Leonie Fiebich played with three fouls for the final four minutes of the second quarter.
Howard picked up her fourth foul in the closing seconds after making minimal contact with Ionescu.
The Liberty, who missed seven free throws in the first half, trailed 56-54 at the break.
The Dream went on their run in the third quarter, pulling ahead by as many as eight.
The Liberty punched back in the final 1:05. Stewart hit a pair of free throws. Moments later, she grabbed a defensive rebound and fed Fauthoux for a layup. Fauthoux also banked in a 3-pointer at the top of the key to make it a one-point game.
As the clock on the quarter wound down, the Liberty got a defensive stop near the rim, which Fauthoux celebrated with an emphatic fist bump.
The game stayed close. But Atlanta always seemed to have a counter for the Liberty.
Fauthoux, who started the season as a developmental player, came up huge, finishing with 20 points, four 3-pointers, six rebounds and four assists off the bench.
Stewart scored 25 of her 35 points in the first half.
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The Liberty’s luck may be running out. New York made history with an impressive sweep of the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the first round.
But the Liberty came to Atlanta to face a red-hot Dream team.
Atlanta hasn’t lost since before the FIBA break. Wednesday extended the team’s win streak to eight.
The Liberty will return to Brooklyn for a win-or-go-home Game 3 Friday.
