The New York Liberty are arguably the best team in the WNBA. However, when they took on the Connecticut Sun yesterday on the road in an 11:00 a.m. start at 17-4, they began the game no longer in sole possession of the best record as the Sun were also 17-4.
A loss to the Indiana Fever last Saturday was the reason.
Playing before a sellout crowd of 17,274 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, the Liberty fell to the Fever 83–78. It was a preventable and disconcerting defeat. The Liberty went into the game with the WNBA’s best record at 17-3 facing a team that has the last two No. 1 overall draft picks in center Aliyah Boston (2023) and point guard Caitlin Clark (2024), but is trying to establish itself as a valid playoff contender.
Furthermore, the Liberty had owned the Fever, beating them nine straight times before Saturday’s late game collapse, giving them a huge confidence boost. Led by Clark’s 19 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds, the first-ever triple-double for a WNBA rookie, the Fever outscored the Liberty 28-16 in the fourth quarter. Boston was a force as well, scoring 18 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
The Liberty opened the final period up 62-55, but their offense stalled midway through and they scored just seven points in the last six minutes and five seconds of the 10 minute quarter. Liberty point guard Sabrina Ionescu was the game’s high scorer with 22 points.
“We’ve beaten them three times this year already,” said Ionescu. “We knew they were going to come into this game really hungry, and it’s tough to beat a team four times. It’s just tough in our league, especially with how every team has grown and especially this young team.
“You’ve been able to see how much they’ve grown just throughout this first half of the season,” Ionescu continued. “So, I don’t think it was necessarily us not playing our style of basketball. It was understanding that we had to come in with a sense of urgency knowing it’s not going to be as easy as it was in the first couple of games that we were able to go against them because they’ve just grown.”
Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello amplified Ionescu’s assessment.
“It’s a team that’s gotten better and better with every game they’ve played,” she said. “I thought our second quarter was great. Our third quarter was great. We made some, but we missed a lot of shots. We had some turnovers. They executed better than us down the stretch. Anyone can beat anyone in this league.”
Indiana tipped off at home against the Washington Mystics yesterday afternoon still below .500 at 9-13 but were the No. 7 seed in the 12-team league in which the top eight seeds make the playoffs. The regular season doesn’t conclude until the third week of September, with a month-long league break beginning next week due to the Olympics, and the Fever has 17 games left. But they are trending upward after a 1-8 start.
The Liberty has three games left before the July 20 All-Star Game and then the Olympic break. First up is the Chicago Sky tonight at Barclays Center, then on Saturday they go at it again in Chicago, and next Tuesday in Brooklyn the Liberty host the Sun.
