NY Liberty vs. Connecticut Sun preview: Liberty come home for two

The shorthanded Liberty come home trying to get back on the winning track against a Sun team on a winning streak

Summarized by AI ⓘ

What is the story about?

The gas tank is starting to run out. The New York Liberty were down four players on the road Saturday afternoon, and it showed. The Libs put up a fight, but the Atlanta Dream were too much to handle and they came away with a big victory. New York is at fifth in the standings, but health matters a LOT more than potential seeding right now.

The opponent tonight is gearing up for 2026. The Connecticut Sun are looking ahead, but they’ve played pretty well as of late. They won their third straight game

after beating the Chicago Sky on the road Saturday evening.

Where to follow the game

MY9 on TV. Liberty Live and FOX Local on streaming. League Pass for the out-of-towners. Tip after 7 PM.

Injuries

The following players are questionable:

Sabrina Ionescu (left foot)
Natasha Cloud (nose)
Isabelle Harrison (concussion)
Breanna Stewart (right knee)

Nyara Sabally remains out.

Leila Lacan took a gnarly elbow to the face on Saturday. She’s listed as doubtful with a right eye injury. Rayah Marshall is out due to personal reasons.

The game

New York won the first and third meetings while Connecticut took the second.

So the WNBA (and by proxy, NBA) league office is trying to screw Sun ownership over. They want to sell to the highest bidder and keep the team in the Northeast. Meanwhile, Cathy Engelbert and everyone else in the office is trying to strong arm the Sun to Houston and Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta. It’s truly disgraceful work by the league office and we’ll see what comes of it.

Luckily for the Liberty, the Sun are a worst rebounding team than they are. New York is 11th in the W in rebounding percentage, and the Sun are 13th. The Liberty’s struggles on the glass have shone through in their past two losses, and they’ve gotta be better. Allowing teams second, third, and fourth opportunities on offense is a killer and always catches up to you. When you’re as shorthanded as New York is, you’ve got to minimize your mistakes and give yourself as many chances as you can on the other end. If they can’t do that, they’re in for another long night.

Marina Mabrey is always down to take a game over, and the Liberty will have to be on the lookout. Mabrey scored 12 points in the first quarter on the way to a 20 point night. She can heat up at a moment’s notice and is a steady hand in their backcourt. Connecticut has a lot to figure out this winter, and we’ll see if Mabrey wants to be a part of their plans going forward.

Something that’s worth keeping an eye on is the amount of minutes Rebekah Gardner plays. Bek gave plenty of good minutes and when(if?) this group becomes fully healthy again, should be someone that gets good minutes. Gardner did a great job crashing the boards and is someone that is always looking to get to the rim. The same can be said for Kennedy Burke, who consistently took it to the cup against the Dream on Saturday.

Player to watch: Tina Charles

You never know how many appearances are left for the future Hall of Famer and Liberty icon. This is year 16 for Charles and she’s settled into her role of veteran leader. With bigs like Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Aneesah Morrow waiting in the wings, they can soak up a lot of game from TC. Charles is still pretty solid in her own right and leads the team in scoring. Tina is good for some classic post ups every game and watching a big operate in the post always moves me.

The Liberty have asked a lot of Jonquel Jones, and she’ll need to do more if they want to survive this stretch. JJ has made eight three pointers in the last two games and her ability to space and draw bigs out to the perimeter. She’ll need to keep at it tonight while also finding those scoring opportunities in the paint. JJ had her worst shooting game in a while on Saturday as she went 4-13 from the field. JJ is always good for a bounce back game so look for her to be on her game tonight.