Breanna Stewart, Liberty Survives Storm to Salvage Road Trip
The New York Liberty ensured an interconference foe would go sweepless in Seattle.
Leonie Fiebich and Breanna Stewart helped the Liberty salvage an otherwise-dire road trip on Friday night by pushing seafoam back in the win column with an 84-76 triumph over the Seattle Storm at Climate Pledge Arena. The win ended a five-game losing streak on the road and allowed the Liberty (25-17) to inch closer toward securing the fifth seed on the WNBA playoff bracket.
Stewart put up 24 points in her return to her original WNBA place of business, getting physical in the latter stages to make all but one of 14 tries at the free throw line. Fiebich tied her career-best in scoring with 21, reaching double-figures by the end of the first period after sinking each of her first three triples.
All that and more was enough to prevent Seattle (22-21) from becoming the seventh team to secure a spot on the eight-team playoff bracket. Nneka Ogwumike fell one rebound short of a double-double and served as the leading scorer for the Pacific Northwest with 20.
After falling victim to the trope in prior road stops in Phoenix and San Francisco over this past week, the Liberty didn't let one queasy quarter defined its Friday fortunes: after jumping out to the early lead thanks to Fiebich's breakout, the Liberty let up 31 points in the second to fall behind by eight at intermission.
With Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins leading the way in penetration, New York was doubled-up in points in the paint to the tune of a 28-14 tally. Ogwumike pulled in seven rebounds while no one on the seafoam side had more than three.
But a well-rounded effort in the third quarter, highlighted by the surrender of only 13 points, allowed the Liberty to leap back into the game. Kennedy Burke would set the tone for the official comeback by scoring eight of her 13 second half points in the third before Stewart upped the physicality in the fourth to the tune of 13 tallies, all but five earned on a perfect 8-of-8 mark at the foul line in hte last 10.
Seattle had once last scare when Ogwumike's driving layup narrowed the gap to two less than two minutes after the Liberty made it eight and got the Pacific Northwesterners back into it. Following a timeout, Stewart took matters into her own hands by scoring each of the last eight Liberty points.
She was partly aided by two successful challenges from Sandy Brondello in less than two minutes of game time: the first negated a Burke foul on Diggins that gave the Liberty the ball back while the other sent Stewart to the foul line after her offensive foul against Erica Wheeler was rescinded and charged to the defender instead.
The Liberty will play its penultimate game of the regular season on Tuesday when it hosts the Washington Mystics in the final home game before the playoffs (7 p.m. ET, Fox 5).
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.