MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Tari Phillips scored 26 points and the New York Liberty held the Minnesota Lynx scoreless for more than two minutes late in the contest for a 76-70 victory.

Minnesota, which scored the game's first nine points, closed to 69-67 with 2:15 left on rookie Betty Lennox's 3-pointer. But the Lynx did not score again until Lennox hit from beyond the arc with the game out of reach.

Becky Hammon hit a driving layup with 1:27 left to give New York a 71-67 lead and Teresa Weatherspoon's foul shot with 30 seconds remaining bumped the lead to five. Sue Wicks added two from the line with 18 seconds to play for the Liberty, who held on for their fourth win in six games.

New York gained control in the second half by outscoring Minnesota, 46-37. The Liberty shot 58 percent (15-of-26) and made 13-of-17 from the line over the final 20 minutes while the Lynx were just 3-of-5 from the stripe.

Phillips scored nine points during a 20-8 run as the Liberty bolted to a 50-43 lead with 14:30 remaining. She closed the spurt on a three-point play and Hammon drilled a pair of 3-pointers.

"We really needed this one," said Phillips, who was acquired from Portland for Carolyn Young prior to the season. "We really recovered to come out and play together with great chemistry in the second half. Everyone really contributed and it was a collective win."

"Becky Hammon was not going to (start) tonight, but she came in at a crucial time," Liberty coach Richie Adubato said. "Phillips has been a great acquisition. We only got her the day before the opener and she's learning."

Phillips grabbed 12 rebounds and shot 10-of-18 from the floor as she led New York in scoring for the fourth time in six games. She has averaged 20.2 points with four double-doubles during that span and is making a serious push for an All-Star berth.

New York snapped a two-game road skid and moved into a three-way logjam for second place in the Eastern Conference, 2 1/2 games behind front-running Orlando.

Hammon added 13 points and Weatherspoon 11 for the Liberty, who notched their first win against Minnesota after dropping a pair of two-point encounters last season.

Lennox scored 20 points, Katie Smith added 16 and Kristin Folkl 12 for the Lynx, who have dropped three of their last five. Minnesota fell to 1-2 on its four-game homestand that concludes Sunday against Houston.

"I'm disappointed," Lennox said. "I feel that our team needs to know when to shoot and when not to shoot, including myself. We've got to be mentally prepared."

"We had some opportunities," Lynx coach Brian Agler said. "The biggest was that we got control early, but we didn't take advantage of it and we made mental mistakes down the stretch."

Smith poured in 12 points in the first half and Folkl added 10 as the Lynx grabbed a 33-30 lead.