Liberty Posts Clean Milestone in Win
One more win is necessary to obtain a season sweep, but the New York Liberty's clean-up crew showed up at the perfect time in the Bay Area.
Sharing was overbearing in the Liberty's prior two games before their first professional visit to Chase Center, where they squared off against the Golden State Valkyries: missing a variety of starters, New York lost a combined 39 turnovers in consecutive losses to Phoenix and Seattle, creating, by surely no coincidence, the first case of back-to-back Liberty defeats in over a full calendar year. It was, if anything, the worst turnover tally they had in a two-game span in just more than three years.
Leonie Fiebich (international duties) and Jonquel Jones (ankle) are still out while Sabrina Ionescu (neck) was also forced to sit a game. New York, however, sought solutions rather than asterisks in the wake of the first bit of turbulence on the flight back to the Finals.
"Losing a player like JJ, it really does deflate you, especially because she just came back," guard Natasha Cloud said. "She's been working her [butt] to get that ankle right, and then it happens again. So we don't know when she's going to be back. We're going to just try to protect the ball] and step up for our dog. "
Struggles from the field kept things close on both sides but the Liberty kept its mistakes to a minimum in what became an 81-78 victory over the surging Valkyries. New York lost but nine turnovers in the win, all but two coming in a third period that the Liberty managed to tie en route to the win.
Such mistake-free basketball proved unique in the Liberty ledgers, as they did not lose their first ball until there were 70 seconds left in the second period. As noted by postgame material, going the first 18:50 without a turnover is the third-longest streak in single-game Liberty history, seven seconds short of second place (2019 vs. Chicago) and just about a minute shy of the record (20:54 in August 2014).
"It seemed like we were getting a lot of rebounds, and then our turnovers, that was just been our Achilles heel, especially the last two losses, we were just throwing bold," said forward Breanna Stewart, who led the Liberty with 23 points. "We were able to contain that a little bit."
While Fiebich could return soon enough with her time repping the German national club at EuroBasket Women nearing an end, the Liberty will weather a Jones-free storm, as the reigning WNBA Finals MVP is expected to miss at least four weeks.
Head coach Sandy Brondello lauded the way unexpected combinations have risen to the occasion and helped get over the awkwardness chemistry building can create: Rebekah Gardner, for example, has made a residence in the starting five while deep reserve Jaylyn Sherrod has earned vital minutes in the opening half. Fellow backup Marine Johannes has also rediscovered her shooting touch, hiting just under 58 percent of her tries from the field in her last couple, including 6-of-14 from three-point range.
"I suppose it's the chemistry that we build in training camp," Brondello said. "They do get opportunities to play for each other. I think not much in games, but these games will help us. Yes, we know we're down two or three starters. We're the underdogs at the moment, but we've competed."
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.