Next stop: Phoenix.
The Liberty had a scenario on Wednesday night that called out to them for a strong performance. They not only entered Game 2 in their best-of-three WNBA first-round playoff series against the Mercury ahead after stealing Game 1 in Phoenix they rode into the game on the good news that even though Breanna Stewart had suffered a sprained MCL in her left knee at the end of Sunday’s win, it couldn’t keep her out of the starting lineup.
But the defending WNBA champions did not answer the call. On offense they were off the mark and sloppy. On defense they were a sieve. And after falling way back before halftime they never recovered in an 86-60 loss at Barclays Center.
“We know these games the hardest games to win are the close-out games because there’s desperation from the other team,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said before the game. “It’s win or go home [for them]. So we’ll use our experience there and obviously the great crowd.”
The crowd was great and the Liberty is experienced, but neither seemed to do the trick against the Mercury.
After swiping the homecourt advantage, the fifth seeded Liberty has given it back to No. 4 Phoenix. The series is tied 1-1 with the deciding Game 3 scheduled for Friday in PHX Arena in Arizona. The winner will meet the team that emerges from the series between No. 1 Minnesota and No. 8 Golden State.
The Mercury broke away from a tie score with an overwhelming first seven minutes of the second quarter for a 19-point lead and the Liberty never got the margin back to single digits. Phoenix led by 24 with 2:19 left in the third quarter and by 31 with 6:09 left in the game. At that point Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello pulled the team’s regulars to rest them for Friday.
Emma Meesseman finished with 11 points, Sabrina Ionescu had nine points on 3-for-13 shooting and Jonquel Jones had 13 rebounds for the Liberty. Stewart finished with six points, two rebounds and two assists in 20 minutes.
The team shot an anemic 30% from the floor, 22% on three-pointers and had 15 turnovers.
Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally each had 15 points and DeWanna Bonner and Kahleah Copper both had 14 points for the Mercury. Phoenix shot 48% from the floor.
The Mercury dominated the Liberty on both ends of the floor in the second quarter, outscoring them 26-12 for a 51-37 halftime lead. Thomas had 13 points and Sabally and Copper 12 apiece at the break on combined 15-for-23 shooting.
The Liberty opened the game looking like a team that wanted to end the series right away, but before the first quarter was over, Phoenix started to turn the tide its way. The Liberty held an 18-12 lead with 3:10 left in the first. It was a lead that should have been bigger if they hadn’t missed four of their first five free throws. However, the Mercury closed the quarter with a 13-7 run in which five different players scored points to knot the score at 25.
Out of the break, the Mercury went defense-first and erupted for a 24-5 run where Sabally scored 10 of the Mercury’s first 12 points and capped by Thomas’ transition layup for a 49-30 lead.
The Liberty missed nine of 10 shots and committed four turnovers during the run while Phoenix made 10 of 14 shots. Eight of the Mercury points came as a result of Liberty turnovers.
Sabrina Ionescu ended a 5:46 drought without a field goal with a three-pointer and Natasha Cloud would add another three as the Liberty took back a little momentum before the break.
But whatever was there vanished as the Liberty missed every field goal attempt it took in the first 6:25 of the third quarter as Phoenix raced past them.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.