The Liberty dig deep for a critical Game 2 win versus the Sun
New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart was honored for her stellar WNBA regular season performance by being named the league’s 2023 MVP for the second time in her career. The former UConn collegiate star also won the award in 2018 as a member of the Seattle Storm.
But for the first two games of the No. 2 seed Liberty’s semifinal playoff matchup against the Connecticut Sun, Stewart has been uncharacteristically off kilter. In the Liberty’s 78-63 Game 1 loss on Sunday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Stewart had a team-high 19 points but shot just 7-25 and was 0-8 on 3-point attempts.
“They were being aggressive. I don’t think we handled it well. We didn’t stay poised and composed,” Stewart said. “Frustrating to drop this one at home. We’ll bounce back Tuesday.”
And they collectively did reverse make adjustments, even with Stewart still misfiring.
With the crowd serenading her with chants of “MVP,” Stewart again couldn’t find her offensive rhythm, going 3-13 from the field and posting just 11 points, 12 below regular season average of 23 per game. But the two-time WNBA champion (2018, 2020) and two-time Finals MVP was picked up by her teammates, themselves accomplished stars.
Guard Sabrina Ionescu led the Liberty with 21, forward Betnijah Laney dropped 20 and guard Courtney Vandersloot added 19 to lift the Liberty to a critical 84-77 win and tie the best-of-five series at 1-1 with Game 3 tomorrow at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.
“It was hard for Stewie, a very emotional day for her. It’s not easy to win MVP,” said Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello. “For AT (Sun’s forward Alyssa Thomas, who was 2-13 in Game 2), that’ll be motivating for the other team, but they’re both worthy of MVP, it could’ve gone either way. They’re lifting the standard of this league with how they play.”
“It’s been an unbelievable season as a whole for the WNBA,” noted Stewart. “Really to see what all the top players have done, it’s only going to continue to make this league shine brighter and be better.
“And the fact that there’s multiple people in the conversation—obviously AT and A’ja [Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces] had amazing seasons, just showed that we’re reaching new heights and we’re doing things that have never been done before, and we’re continuing to show that greatness shines in many different ways.”
Game 4 will also be in Connecticut on Sunday at 3 p.m.
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