The New York Liberty, down 55-49 to the visiting Phoenix Mercury midway through the third quarter, called a timeout and trudged to the bench. The game was slipping away, their fourth straight loss (all at home) now seemed like the likely outcome. Then, out of nowhere, the Liberty went on a franchise-record 23-0 run, blowing the roof off Barclays Center in the season’s best moment to date.
Postgame, no player could remember exactly what Head Coach Chris DeMarco said in the huddle, but they all agreed
that his message contained some expletives, and that it struck the right chord.
Said Rebecca Allen: “I mean, at this point it was — there’s no other way, you know? Like, I think you know it’s time to get your s**t together and get out there and fight and play hard and do it together as well. And so, I think it was a message that was needed.”
What followed was euphoria, and when the final buzzer sounded, relief. The Liberty snapped out of their malaise, playing with effort, energy, and perhaps most importantly, some swagger. There exists a saying about playoff basketball: “When you win you feel like you’ll never lose again. When you lose, you feel like you’ll never win again.”
But for the Liberty, the WNBA Finals favorites who could be under .500 entering June, they were feeling those extremes early in the regular season. The win over Phoenix on Wednesday allowed everybody to take a breath, and now, it’s time to do it again.
On Friday night, the Liberty once again host the team that knocked them out of the 2025 WNBA Playoffs. It’s time to start a streak.
Where to follow the game
My9 on TV and Liberty Live on streaming for the locals — for the out-of-towners, Amazon Prime and/or WNBA League Pass on streaming, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Injuries
This is the Liberty’s most straightforward injury report on the season. Marine Fauthoux, on a development contract, continues to work her way back from a left knee ailment, while Sabrina Ionescu remains out with a back issue.
“She’s just sore, she’s day-to-day right now,” said Chris DeMarco of his star guard.
However, nobody else is listed on the injury report. No questionables, no nothing, with Satou Sabally and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton good to go. At shootaround, DeMarco smiled and admitted that knowing who’s in the lineup 24 hours before tip does indeed help with preparation. Shocker!
“Yeah, it’s not bad,” he said. “We, you know, we have our process; we try to have an idea of how rotations are going to look and the way we want to play. It definitely helps to know that someone’s available.”
As for the Phoenix Mercury, DeWanna Bonner is probable with an illness, while ex-Liberty Sami Whitcomb remains out with a knee injury.
The Game
The Liberty still have a ways to go getting comfortable in their half-court offense, finding the balance of attacking at the first opportunity and making sure the ball pops around the court.
“That’s still a work in progress for sure,” said Rebecca Allen at shootaround. “Getting the ball from one side to the second side or, God forbid, the third side of the of the court, I think that’s still something we’re growing towards. And I think when you’ve got players that are getting downhill, like Pauline [Astier] or Marine [Johannès] , that have this great vision and can get it out — even Stewie when she’s driving down the middle, she’s got such good vision and she can see the open player — that inside to outside game is huge for us.”
New York forced six turnovers during that 23-0 third quarter run on Wednesday, and naturally, every player has started with the defensive intensity and ball pressure when discussing that game. We’ll have to see if the Liberty can keep that up and force some turnovers to get out in transition, but this roster is constructed to be a prolific half-court offense as well. Phoenix, again, will test them.
Player To Watch: Jovana Nogić
We all know about Alyssa Thomas, but overseas rookie Jovana Nogić has been on an absolute heater to start the season. The 28-year-old Serbian is shooting a ridiculous 52% from deep through eight games, averaging 14 points for the struggling Mercury. She wasted no time introducing herself to the W either…
Nogić scored just nine points against the Libs on Wednesday, but shot 3-of-5 from three. New York can’t let her get hot on Friday, as her shooting can easily swing a game.
From the Vault
We all know the Mercury bounced the Liberty from last year’s postseason, but we can stay positive and remember New York’s epic Game 1 victory on the road, needing overtime to grind out the low-scoring W…
Natasha Cloud is no longer wearing sea foam, but Satou Sabally is, and after missing Wednesday’s game, she gets her first chance to square off against her former squad. Should be fun.
