Liberty Lose Key Reserve to Injury vs. Storm
The New York Liberty was forced to watch one of its top reserves leave Sunday's game against the Seattle Storm.
Isabelle Harrison left the game with an apparent ankle injury when she got it tangled up with teammate Leonie Fiebich as they attempted to stop a Dominique Malonga double under the basket.
Fiebich walked off with no apparent ill effect, but Harrison stayed down, leading Seattle shooter Alysha Clark to go get a towl from her bench to give the New York reserve her privacy. Harrison eventually walked off to an ovation from a supportive Brooklyn crowd with the assistance of head athletic trainer Terri Acosta and one of her staffers.
Harrison played only two minutes on Sunday but has come through big for the Liberty in recent showings: going into the brief WNBA hiatus on Independence Day, Harrison was second in plus/minus among all bench players in their prior four games at plus-31, behind only Sophie Cunningham of Indiana (plus-34).
One of the newest New Yorkers after coming over from Chicago this offseason, the 31-year-old Harrison has landed an expanded role in the New York rotation with Jonquel Jones still working off an ankle injury.
"She always stayed ready," head coach Sandy Brondello said of Harrison after Sunday's in Atlanta. "That's part about being on a team, being ready and prepared and confident in what you do and what you bring. I think that's what Izzy has done. She's been around for a while. She's not a rookie, she's a veteran player and she's given us some really good minutes for us ... I think it's good for us as we move forward."
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.