Liberty Down Wings For Third Straight Win
The New York Liberty came out shooting in Arlington, and it led to a vengeance-earned victory over the Dallas Wings.
Six different New Yorkers reached double-figures in a Friday night showdown at College Park Center in North Texas, allowing the Liberty to take home an 88-77 decision over the Paige Bueckers-less Wings. Sabrina Ionescu led the balanced output with 16 points and also tallied six assists and rebounds each while Jonquel Jones scored most of her 14 on a 4-of-5 rate from three-point range.
It was a historic win for New York (20-10), as head coach Sandy Brondello earned the 100th win of her seafoam tenure to tie Richie Adubato for the most wins for a head coach in franchise history. The win, New York's third in a row, also wrapped up the speedy three-game set between the Liberty and Wings: Dallas had taken a 92-82 decision in Arlington last week before the Liberty won one in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
Unlike their last visit to Dallas, which saw them fall behind by 27 at halftime, the Liberty got off to a sterling start: New York shot 11-of-18 from the field in first period, as newcomer Emma Meesseman helped set the tone with a perfect 3-of-3 tally with three assists.
Every sunk New York try in the first period featured an assist and the Liberty also let up no offensive rebounds while building a 13-point lead that was tested but never surpassed. The Liberty also showed up on the defensive end, earning six steals in a period for the first time since 2022.
The closes the Wings came to stealing another one was 14-4 late third quarter run that shrank a 13-point gap to three. A speedy showcase from Marine Johannes, featuring a three-pointer off the feed from Meesseman and a trip to the foul line for three successful singles that pushed the advantage back to seven. A 10-1 tally to open the third, bookended by threes from Jones and Leonie Fiebich, more or less sealed that deal and rendered a one-woman rally from Maddy Siegrist mostly null.
Having dropped four in a row since its upset win over the Liberty on July 28, the Wings (8-23) played Friday's game without franchise face Bueckers, who endured back issues in her maiden Brooklyn voyage on Tuesday. Arike Ogunbowale led the team with 17 points but it was the depth stars that stole the show: Siegrist had 15, Grace Berger led the team with eight rebounds and four assists, while Myisha Hines-Allen flirted with a double-double in relief at 12 points and seve boards.
The Liberty face another WNBA Finals rematch in their next game, taking on the Minnesota Lynx for the second time this season in a hyped matinee at Barclays Center (12:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
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.