There are mile markers in every season. Moments where a team’s fortune could sway one way or the other.
Moments that can define who and what a team is.
For the Liberty, one such moment came in the 11th game of their season. And Breanna Stewart was pleased with what she saw.
“We want to win games whether they are pretty or ugly,” Stewart said a few minutes after the Liberty’s 83-75 win over the Indiana Fever in a Commissioner’s Cup contest Saturday night at Barclays Center. The Liberty have won four-in-a-row and are now 7-4.
“We found a way,” first-year Liberty coach Chris DeMarco said. “Make two, three, four plays, and that will swing a game. I thought we had that tonight. I think we really hustled after mistakes and missed shots.”
After trailing by as many as 12 points in the third quarter, the Liberty outscored Indiana (5-5) 29-18 in the fourth.
Stewart led all scorers with 30 points. Satou Sabally added 13 off the bench. Pauline Astier finished with 12.
For both league decision-makers and television program executives, the first of four regular-season contests between the Eastern Conference teams was supposed to be a nationally televised prime time matchup between Caitlin Clark, one of the WNBA’s preeminent stars, and a refurbished Liberty squad looking to win the organization’s second title in three seasons.
Alas, the best laid plans.
The game’s star power was slightly dimmed by DeMarco’s announcement following shootaround Saturday morning that Sabrina Ionescu would not play due to back soreness. The 28-year-old guard has only played in one game this season. Ionescu battled a left foot injury earlier in the season.
Even without Ionescu, the Liberty entered the game having won three straight and appeared to be adjusting well to the offensive and defensive concepts DeMarco brought with him from the NBA’s Golden State.
In the three wins, the Liberty scored an average of 85.3 points while holding Phoenix (in contests on May 27 and May 29) and Toronto (Friday night) to 74.6 points. Overall, the Liberty’s 87.6 points scored average ranked seventh in the league, while their 83.1 points allowed was sixth in the league.
The defensive element was on display in the first half.
Following a back-and-forth first quarter in which the rivals traded buckets, the Liberty held the Fever to 4-for-12 shooting from the field in the second 10 minutes.
Still, Indiana’s slight 40-37 lead at halftime could partially be attributed to the Liberty misfiring from beyond the arc and at the foul line. The Liberty missed 12 of 14 three-point attempts and only connected on 7 of 12 free throws.
Then the third quarter began, and over the first six-and-a-half minutes both the Liberty’s offense and defense collapsed like a house of cards, as they were outscored 17-8.
Trailing 57-45, the Liberty closed the quarter with a 9-0 spurt. Stewart started the run with two free throws. A few seconds later, Sabally converted a three-point play. Rebekah Gardner added two free throws of her own, and Stewart drilled a jumper in the lane with 10.9 seconds left in the third to cut the deficit to 57-54.
The Liberty had climbed back into the game. And their momentum carried over into the fourth quarter.
Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 21. Monique Billings finished with 15. Aliyah Boston added 13, while Clark shot 4-for-14 (10 points).