Bench Press: Liberty Reserves Ignite Comeback Win in Dallas
Following a potentially crippling loss to their playoff chances on Monday night, Marine Johannes of the New York Liberty voiced an uncomfortable truth: watching Sabrina Ionescu flirt with history on a nightly basis is awe-inspiring but, if the team hopes to build a playoff streak, "we have to help her."
Given a second chance against Monday's victors, the Dallas Wings, Johannes was more than happy to supply a French correction alongside her fellow reserves.
Liberty bench players scored 50 points in a Wednesday night rematch, with Sami Whitcomb (15) and Johannes (13) uniting for 28 points in relief. That allowed the Liberty (14-20) to erase an early 15-point deficit and escape from Arlington with a 91-73 victory.
"(Stef Dolson) said in the locker room that everyone was involved in this game, and Sami Whitcomb did a great job," Johannes said in the aftermath. "I think we have to continue in this way, showing the ball and moving the ball. I think when we are doing this, it's great for us, and showing we can play really good basketball."
New York is now engaged in a four-way tie for the final two spots on the eight-team WNBA playoff bracket, though tiebreakers make them the current first team out. Fittingly, the Liberty and Atlanta Dream, one of their neighbors that holds the eighth seed, will do battle in a weekend home-and-home starting on Friday night in Georgia (7:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network).
In addition to Whitcomb and Johannes leading the way, fellow reserve 2021 All-Star Betnijah Laney also reached double figures (11) in her third night back from a lengthy medical absence that cost her over 20 games. Those 50 points off the bench (outpacing Dallas' reserves by 41) were good for a season-high by any WNBA team.
Wednesday's game had a horrifyingly familiar start, as Dallas (17-17) jumped out to an early lead that summited at 15, echoing the opening of Monday's showdown at College Park Arena. But Johannes, fresh off a 16-point effort in the previous second quarter that helped keep things competitive in what became an 86-77 loss, got all of her scoring done just before the half, trimming the Dallas lead to one. Johannes' efforts came while Ionescu, fresh off a season-best 32 on Monday, was held scoreless over the first 20 minutes.
Whitcomb was inserted into the lineup in place of Crystal Dangerfield and immediately rewarded head coach Sandy Brondello's faith with a succession of triples that allowed the Liberty to yank the lead back. When Dallas started to creep back in, anchored partly by a Teaira McCowan double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds) and a rookie season-best scoring effort from Veronica Burton (15 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field), Ionescu rediscovered her scoring prowess and inched toward her usual numbers, ending the game with 13 points (all in the second half) to go with nine rebounds and seven assists.
Ionescu wasn't the only starter who rose to the occasion as the Liberty pulled away: Natasha Howard tallied nine points and four rebounds as she returned from an ankle injury sustained in another heartbreaking loss on Saturday in Phoenix.
While Whitcomb's first double-figure scoring efforts since July 12 Brondello seemed to be even more impressed with Whitcomb's defensive prowess on Marina Mabrey. The sharpshooter followed up her game-changing, career-best scoring work on Monday with 19 more points but it took 21 attempts from the field to reach that number (7-of-21 overall).
"I just thought Sami was going to give us more. I thought her defense was really solid and she gives us more offensive scoring," Brondello said of her decision to insert Whitcomb into the starting five. "I always go with my gut. It doesn't mean I'm always right, but it worked out well tonight."
"I thought we stayed in her space a little bit better. I thought we forced her into other players a bit better. We loaded up a little bit more," Whitcomb said of the crackdown on Mabrey, with whom she played overseas in Australia. "I thought we just, in general, made it a little bit harder. She's a great player, she was still going to score, she was still going to make tough shots, make plays, but if we can make it more difficult so she couldn't feel quite as good as I thought she felt last game, that's a win for us."
Dallas preserved its earlier lead primarily through second chance opportunities earned through the glass battle, but when all was said and done, the Liberty lost the final total tally by only one.
New York and Atlanta previously faced off in another home-and-home in June, splitting that by winning on the other's home court.
