Liberty Get Good and Bad News on Injury Report
Here comes the Connecticut Sun — and maybe some friendly faces back for the New York Liberty.
The Liberty got good news and bad news on the injury report for Monday's game against the Connecticut Sun (7 p.m. ET, My9): Isabelle Harrison (concussion protocol), Sabrina Ionescu (foot), and Breanna Stewart (knee) were all listed as questionable. On the other hand, Nyara Sabally (knee) remains out and Natasha Cloud (nose) is another new addition to the report, though she is likewise listed as questionable.
Medical interruptions have been a recurring theme of this Liberty season: backup backcourt talent Marine Johannes is the only player to have appeared in all 37 games of the debut championship defense to date, as Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and more have all missed significant time due to varying ailments. That also doesn't take into account the season-long absence of Betnijah Laney, whose contract has been suspended for the 2025 campaign after undergoing offseason knee surgery.
New York has been forced to play several games, including Saturday's loss to the Atlanta Dream, with eight women. Ionescu was a late addition to the infirmary after Kamilla Cardoso landed on her food during a rebounding scrum on Thursday against the Chicago Sky, while Stewart, the seven-time All-Star, three-time champion, and two-time MVP, has not played since leaving July 26's home game against Los Angeles with a bone bruise on her knee.
With so many ailing, the Liberty have struggled to keep pace on the WNBA leaderboard: entering Monday's game, New York sits in fifth place on the current bracket, two games behind the aforementioned Dream for second place. New York (22-15) has dropped four of its last five, though that one win came against the Minnesota Lynx last Tuesday.
The extended WNBA schedule, which features each team playing a record 44 games this season, will give New York an opportunity to re-establish chemistry and flow before the playoffs start. The Liberty has played just one game, May's opening night win over the Las Vegas Aces, with a full contingent (sans Laney-Hamilton) so far this season.
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.