It’s well-established which side of the ball the Los Angeles Sparks, who rank 4th in the WNBA in offense and 11th in defense, butter their bread on. But you really have to see it to believe it.
The New York Liberty are familiar. Rickea Jackson stood in the paint at the west end of Barclays Center on July 26, every muscle flexing, ready to scream, celebrating one of the highlights of her young career after hitting a buzzer-beating game-winner to even the series with New York at one apiece…
Note that the final score there was 101-99, kicking off a four-game losing streak for the Liberty in which their opponents averaged 93 points a night. Not great.
The circumstances would be even tougher for the rubber match on Tuesday night. New York flew across the country — after playing Sunday — with just eight available players after Isabelle Harrison was left behind in concussion protocol, though Kennedy Burke did put on the uniform in case of emergency. And they’d have to play on Wednesday night in Las Vegas; this was just the first half of a back-to-back following an annoying loss to the Minnesota Lynx.
In other words, this was their chance to get a win. It didn’t start well.
Los Angeles led 30-28 after one period, not a worrisome deficit but worrisome but for the quality of defense. Another shootout against the offensive-minded Sparks seemed a sure thing, especially with New York defending Kelsey Plum like this, unsure of what the coverage even was…
Maybe the available players were conserving energy. Maybe they knew one injury was one too many, or maybe they were saving themselves for the Las Vegas Aces. Example: Jonquel Jones will have to guard A’ja Wilson on Wednesday night; on Tuesday, she hardly broke a sweat defensively.
At least she made up for it on the other end. She scored 14 of her 21 points in a blistering hot first half, hitting 3-points, post fade-aways, and rolling to the rim. But every Lib got in on the offensive action. Once again, all five starters hit double-digits, and at no point did L.A. seem prepared to slow them down. (The one woman who could have stopped them, Cameron Brink, played just five minutes before having her ankle wrapped and tunneling between the locker room and the bench for the rest of the game.)
New York raced ahead in the second quarter, finally playing some defense and getting pretty lucky that the Sparks were not as hot from three as they were. After Jackson’s breakout performance in NY, she shot just 7-of-20 in this one, including 2-of-10 from three. They took a 50-44 lead into the break after their bench, albeit depleted, outplayed the opponent for the second straight game.
But the similarities between Sunday’s loss and Tuesday’s game continued into the third quarter. The Liberty are the only team that can stop themselves, Head Coach Sandy Brondello likes to say, and they almost obliged again. Preventable turnovers kept L.A. in reach…
…and New York never quite pushed it to double-digits. Of course, their own halfcourt defense was the primary suspect.
But ultimately, it didn’t matter. They were crisp enough — Brondello deserves some credit here too, it felt like the Liberty scored on every set play — to take advantage of a Sparks defense that had no pride. I wish (not really) there was a nicer way to say it. Emma Meesseman was the star of the second half, and would ultimately lead the Liberty with 24 points in addition to nine boards and four assists. She shot 9-of-15 and 6-of-7 from the line, and while she continued to display solid chemistry with Sabrina Ionescu (14/3/6) in the pick-and-roll, most of her buckets came from manhandling mismatches down low…
A switch, a post-up, minimal help, and a bucket. Not a surprising formula, is it?
“I think our approach was a little different, and we paid more attention to details,” said Meesseman postgame. “So it made it easier for me to, you know, kind of read more of what’s happening on the court. And hopefully game by game is going to be like that.”
Sandy Brondello acknowledged that, despite LA’s length, it’s not too hard to gameplan when you have a frontcourt as talented as hers: “They’re switching and doing a whole lot of different things, but just their individual brilliance and talent does the rest. It’s just about just getting the ball into them, and there, they’re making the plays out of it.”
Los Angeles couldn’t defend Leonie Fiebich either, who finished with her second 20-point game of the season. Like the other matchups, they brought minimal help for a smaller defender, Kelsey Plum in this case. Fiebich and her teammates attacked that matchup with great success…
Said Brondello: “Obviously they had Plum on Leo, and that was a favorable matchup for us … we just love the versatility that she brings. And I thought she was really aggressive to the rim. You know, I thought last game we didn’t get her in enough action, and she wasn’t wasn’t as aggressive as we would like her to be.”
This is the Fiebich question of the season, if she can manage her fatigue and defensive assignments with enough offensive aggression. Her coaches and teammates have occasionally begged for it this in 2025; on Tuesday, they got it.
And they did get the win they desperately needed. The Sparks fought the only way they know how (playing offense), but it wasn’t enough. They cut it to a possession or two here and there, but mostly stayed an arm’s length away until the final buzzer.
New York shot a preposterous 56% from the field and 50% from three. It won’t always be that easy to score, but it’s nice when it is. As for the defense, well, just focus on the win.
Final Score: New York Liberty 105, Los Angeles Sparks 97
Injury report
Sandy Brondello didn’t have much information on Izzy Harrison, back in New York in concussion protocol: “I didn’t find out until after the press conference of the last game… all these post players going down, it’s been a tough run. Not sure when [the injury occurred], could’ve been the game before and didn’t think much of it.”
Thus, one of Meesseman or Jones was on the court at all times on Tuesday, and it’ll be that way for the foreseeable future. As for Kennedy Burke, she put on the uniform but was never expected to get it the game. That could change Wednesday, though, as she targets a return from her calf injury. It’ll likely be a game-time decision for KB.
Brondello makes history
Sandy Brondello entered postgame media with wet hair and a big ol’ smile. That’s because she won her 101st game as head coach of the New York Liberty, the most in franchise history. Only fitting for the only head coach with a ring…
After praising the organization and the incredible talent she gets to coach, Brondello was asked another question about the milestone. She had to laugh: “I don’t really get into this kind of stuff. Obviously, it’s nice. It means we’re winning. But, you know, I’m more about just trying to win this game more than any kind of records, and how we continue to get better, and getting ready for Vegas.”
Next Up
A quickly fading rivalry nonetheless takes center stage during WNBA Rivalry Week. The uneven Las Vegas Aces welcome a very tired New York Liberty team to Sin City on ESPN, where both teams will be very focused on their own issues. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET.
