Sabrina Ionescu was out yet again on Friday night, the final game of the New York Liberty’s last West Coast trip of the regular season. The Liberty needed a win for the sake of a win. “We’re kind of running out of opportunities for growth at this point. We need to just actually be better,” said Breanna Stewart after an uninspiring loss in Phoenix, but before another uninspiring loss against Golden State.
The Seattle Storm, 5-2 in their last seven games and coming off three days of rest at home, needed
a win to clinch playoff position.
Early on, the Liberty exceeded their energy. The talent was not failing to work hard. Breanna Stewart and Leonie Fiebich played nearly the whole first quarter, which New York won 22-14. Fiebich sprinted out of the gates, firing and making all three of her 3-pointers to score a quick 11 points, playing with the aggression Head Coach Sandy Brondello has openly pined for since the German’s arrival in New York…
Stewie and Fiebich headed to the bench with just ticks left in the first quarter; Seattle tied it up before the 7-minute mark of the second.
Jonquel Jones was never really in this one. On one of her only post-up possessions of the game, she got blocked and chose to complain to the nearest referee while the ball bounced near, but not on, the sideline, allowing Seattle to retrieve it. Jones then picked up three quick fouls, which sent her to the bench for most of the first half. Upon returning in the third quarter, she fouled again, sending her to the bench. What’d she do to begin the fourth quarter? Reader, you already know.
Though there shouldn’t be such a drop-off with a reserve unit led by Jonquel Jones, she was not solely at fault for the Liberty’s second quarter struggles. Rebekah Gardner got the start in Ionescu’s place on Friday, perhaps an overdue stamp of faith from Brondello, only for Gardner to play some of her worst ball of the season. Emma Meesseman shot 4-of-6 to score nine efficient points, but spent her first few minutes on the court getting roasted on switches.
It was no one player’s fault, but a collective malaise. The bad feelings were back. Even Stewie and Fiebich checking back into the game couldn’t fix it; Seattle scored 28 points in the paint before halftime, taking an eight-point lead into the break. Pregame, Natasha Cloud told the New York Post’s Madeline Kenney, “I just want to see us fight and act like we want to f*****g win.”
It appeared that desire would last for one measly quarter…
Seattle went up nine early in the third, Jones picked up her aforementioned fourth foul, and it seemed the Liberty were headed for another bland loss. Finally, mercifully, they found dug deep within themselves and came up with gold.
Kennedy Burke had her first capital-M Moment in a while, scoring eight of her 13 points in the late stages of the third quarter, all at the rim or at the line. She had to dig her points outta the mud, New York’s offense never capturing the flow state Liberty fans have gotten used to watching this championship-winning iteration of the team.
But the Liberty defense buckled down (and the Storm missed shots) to the point of giving their offense some breathing room. They only forced nine turnovers on the night, but consistently bled Seattle’s shot-clock in the second half and finished possessions with such pristine box-outs that the broadcasters took notice. After surrendering 31 points in an abysmal second quarter, the Liberty allowed just 29 in the entire second half.
What was the big difference? “Just helping each other. Like, just being there for each other. And I feel like in the first half, we didn’t really congest the paint enough for them to make it hard for them to, like, go downhill and find easy passes. So we just made everything a little bit harder,” explained Leonie Fiebich.
Well that and Breanna Stewart reminding her the Seattle crowd what they were missing. She took over the whole game in the second half, bruising her way to the line for 14 free-throw attempts and stonewalling Nneka Ogwumike and others in increasingly disrespectful manner…
Real face-of-the-franchise stuff, dominating in a game the team had to have not just because she is a preternatural talent, but because Stewie simply wants it more. And sometimes, there’s nothing you can do about it.
“I wanted to do whatever I could for the team. And you know, whether we make mistakes or not, having a turnover or missing a shot, really the ability to just get back on defense. Seattle’s a great team, and they play really well together, but we were trying to show a lot of congestion, so just helping my teammates wherever
I could,” which for Stewie, is everywhere.
Seattle’s lead was just one point at the start of the fourth, and by the time Stewie was feeling good enough to skip down the court and hit a pull-up three, they were down five…
New York never pushed their lead to double-digits, but Seattle never tied it either. Neither team looked particularly ready to make a run to the WNBA Finals, but given how rocky their respective seasons have been, nobody particularly cared. Friday night was about getting a damn win, and behind Breanna Stewart, the Liberty pulled it off. She finished with a 24/7/4 and five blocks, but there is no quantifying how bright her guiding light is on a night like that.
Leonie Fiebich tied her career-high with 21 points, while Natasha Cloud hit a couple clutch jumpers in the third to put up 10/7/6/ while chipping in three blocks. She has her flaws, and Seattle was relentless in trying to exploit them, but nobody can accuse Cloud of not backing up her talk of wanting to show some fight.
That’s what the New York Liberty did on Friday night. Yes the Storm shot just 4-of-20 from deep, no that wasn’t quite a championship performance from the team looking to repeat. But a win is a win. Better take ‘em while you can.
“I’m just really happy with the team and the way that we just … changed the narrative a little bit.” — Breanna Stewart.
Final Score: New York Liberty 84, Seattle Storm 76
Next Up
The New York Liberty will fly back across the country and enjoy a couple of rest days before playing their final home game of the season, billed as Fan Appreciation Day. They’ll take on the Washington Mystics at 7:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday night.
