WASHINGTON (AP) Becky Hammon matched her career high with 22 points as the New York Liberty clinched the Eastern Conference title with a 74-66 victory over Washington on Friday night.

Crystal Robinson added 15 points to help the Liberty (18-12) take a two-game lead over Washington and Charlotte (both 16-14) with two games remaining for all three teams.

New York won the season series with Washington 2-1, and also holds the tiebreaker over Charlotte, which clinched a playoff spot Friday night with a victory at Minnesota.

New York used a 10-0 run to take a 56-44 lead with 8:03 to play. Robinson opened the run with a three-point play, Hammon made a 3-pointer and a layup, and Robinson added a jumper.

"We put (Hammon) in a different position tonight, and we put her in a position where she could get open and get some shots," Liberty coach Richie Adubato said.

"We needed to come in here and play hard. Our goal was to get the homecourt advantage, and we did just that. It's going to be a great playoff. There's tremendous talent in the East."

Hammon was 5-of-6 from 3-point range, with her final 3-pointer giving the Liberty a 61-47 lead with 5:30 left.

"Shooting is all percentages. You might miss your first two or three, and you might hit your next five, so you can't quit shooting the ball," Hammon said.

Chamique Holdsclaw had 23 points for the Mystics. Washington, which secured a playoff spot Thursday night with a victory at New York, has lost eight of its last nine games.

"We did a great job of containing them last night in New York," Holdsclaw said. "They're a veteran team. You knew they were going to come back with a little bit more firepower. They just really played great shooting ball. They have great shooters, but the shooters couldn't get open without great screeners."

Washington rookie forward Stacey Dales-Schuman scored 11 of the Mystics' first 17 points, but didn't score again until just 1:01 remained in the game. She finished with 16 points.

"I thought that we struggled offensively because our screening was not very good at all. It was poor," Mystics coach Marianne Stanley said. "We weren't turning the ball over, we just were not doing a good job screening. Our defense didn't respond by taking away their wide-open looks."

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