For much of Wednesday night’s contest, the Liberty struggled to put a Storm team in freefall away.
New York led by double-digits several times, but Seattle fought back, trailing by just four entering the fourth quarter.
An 8-0 Liberty run to open the fourth quarter, led by All-Star Game MVP Jonquel Jones with Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart on the bench, proved to be the cushion New York needed. Stewart’s rest came in handy, scoring several clutch buckets in the final minutes to push the Liberty past the Storm 92-86 Wednesday night at Barclays Center.
New York’s win gives it the season series win, 2-1 over Seattle, with its second win against the Storm in three days.
“It’s always tough when you play a team twice in a row,” Stewart said. “I wanted to get a good look at the basketball times, and just knowing tendencies, and where I can get to, I put it on ourselves to make sure that we get good looks to end the game.”
Stewart led the way with 28 points on 12-of-22 shooting against her former team. The 31-year-old won two championships with Seattle in 2018 and 2020. Stewart is an afterthought for MVP, but another key performance in a crucial win helps build her case.
“I think [Stewart] deserves [to be in the MVP conversation],” Jones said. “She’s been our leader. She’s been out there just playing tremendously, and picking us up when some of us have had down games. I think she’s at that level of consistency.”
Despite a game-high 31 points from Seattle center Dominique Malonga, New York kept its composure.
The Liberty’s (19-13) win gives them six wins in their last seven games. New York is now 6-1 in games with the starting lineup of Ionescu, Rebecca Allen, Stewart, Jones, and Pauline Astier — a positive sign as the team fights for a higher playoff seed down the stretch.
All five New York starters scored in double figures.
“We’re starting to realize how to win together,” Ionescu said. “We’ve been up in games, we’ve been down in games, we’ve come back from big deficits late in games … People were out with injury. Now that we’ve had you know the ability to stack some games with the same starting lineup.”
Seattle (6-27) is heading in the opposite direction, losing its 10th straight and boasting the worst record in the WNBA. After making the playoffs the past two seasons, first-year head coach Sonia Raman has Seattle at its worst start since its inaugural season in 2000, where it finished 6-26.
The Liberty entered the day in seventh place, but only 1.5 games behind fourth place. The matchup looked like a great opportunity for New York to gain more ground in the playoff standings.
For much of the first half, the game reflected the team’s recent play.
New York exploded out of the gate, leading by as many as 15 points. Most of its damage came in the open court, scoring 11 fast break points in the first quarter. Allen was the biggest beneficiary, scoring 10 of her 12 points in the opening frame.
The Liberty seemed to have an answer every time the Storm got within single digits. Seattle then scored on its final four possessions of the first half to cut its deficit to four points.
But it was a first-half to forget for Ionescu.
The four-time all-star was held scoreless on four shots as New York’s lead was nearly gone. Then came the third-quarter explosion. Ionescu scored 13 of her 15 points in the period to keep the Liberty ahead.
“I was having good looks early, and just you know, they didn’t go in, so I [stuck] with it,” Ionescu said. “Got downhill, was able to get into the paint, and play out of transition. That’s probably the most open I kind of get is just when we’re able to get stops on one end and push the ball.
New York held on in the fourth quarter, winning another crucial game and keeping pace in the standings.
“We’ve had a tough season, and I think for us, it’s just being able to turn that corner, start a new chapter after all-star [weekend],” Jones said. “To be able to come in, stack those wins, and really see the light of day a little bit and give us that extra confidence that we need.”
For more on Breanna Stewart and the Liberty, visit AMNY.com
