Fans might have been a little concerned when the New York Liberty had a dismal showing against the Chicago Sky in a preseason game, but since the start of regular season action on May 14, the team has been playing strong, cohesive basketball. The season opened with an 85–80 win over the Washington Mystics. That was followed by a 102–66 win over the Indiana Fever in which the Liberty held Caitlin Clark to just nine points.
Saturday afternoon was the Liberty’s home opener, which brought another victory. In a quick turnaround rematch, the Liberty prevailed over the Fever 91–80 before a sellout crowd of 17,735 (over $2 million in ticket revenue). Clark did have 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds, but it was no match for the Liberty, which had five scorers in double figures. The Liberty starting five from last season—Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot—have all returned and are playing smart team basketball that can be expected of a veteran team.
“[Betnijah] hangs her hat on playing defense, guarding the best player every single night,” said Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello. “She takes it on herself. She’s going to compete, she’s tough as nails and she works her butt off. To still be effective on offense too…that was a pretty fast game out there tonight. Even though Caitlin got some looks, I still think we made it hard for her.”
After years of shuffling of the Liberty roster from season to season, Brondello is pleased to have last year’s starting five back together. Also, every player on the roster got minutes in the game versus the Fever, including rookie Marquesha Davis. Other newbies to the team are Ivana Dojkic, Kennedy Burke and Leonie Fiebich.
“We were close last year, but we’re even closer this year,” said Stewart. “Just really appreciating that and enjoying it. Last year, things got a little bit crazy for everyone coming here that was new. Now, we’re settled and we know what we’re trying to do on and off the court.”
On Monday night, the Liberty prevailed 74–63 against the Seattle Storm. The team has a chance to show the Chicago Sky what Liberty basketball really looks like when they take on the team at Barclays Center tonight.