Breanna Stewart scores 43 as Liberty top Phoenix
Sitting behind the podium a little more than 90 minutes before tipoff, Sandy Brondello was straightforward with her expectations for the task at hand.
The coach of the Liberty wanted to see her team locked in defensively and push the pace offensively.
One out of two isn’t bad. But it could be cause for concern for the Liberty, who outlasted the Mercury, 99-95, at Barclays Center Wednesday night.
“We’re happy with the win,” Brondello said after the Liberty improved to 12-4. “But not satisfied with the way we won.”
The troublesome aspect for the Liberty was that they let the WNBA-worst Mercury (3-13) back into a game which looked to be over early in the third quarter.
Sabrina Ionescu sparked the 14-3 run by scoring or assisting on eight of the Liberty’s 14 points in the spurt, highlighted by blocking Shey Peddy’s three-point attempt, recovering the loose ball and sprinting down court for a breakaway layup.
Ionescu finished with 11 points.
But for all of the Liberty’s shot-making (they finished with 49.2% shooting from the field), they allowed Phoenix to shoot 34-for-67 (50.7%) from the field.
“There’s not one moment in the game where we shouldn’t have a sense of urgency,” said Breanna Stewart, who finished with 43 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
“That’s something that we need to continue to build and focus on because this has happened before,” Stewart said. “We’ll take the win but we need to continue to get better.”
Nor did it help when Kayla Thornton was ejected for committing a flagrant-one foul on Diana Taurasi’s three-point attempt before the end of the third quarter. Taurasi made all three free throws to cut the lead to 78-69 entering the fourth.
Taurasi led the Mercury with 23 points.
Phoenix took a 94-92 lead on Michaela Onyenwere’s layup with 1:51 left. Jones and Stewart responded with buckets on the Liberty’s next two possessions to regain the lead at 96-94.
Onyenwere went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line to bring the Mercury within one, but Stewart’s running layup with 18.4 seconds left pushed the advantage to 98-95.
Peddy missed a layup, and Stewart made one-of-two free throws for the final margin of victory.
“We made plays when we needed to,” Stewart said.
Reserve centers Stefanie Dolson and Han Xu did not play in the game although both were in the building. Dolson missed her fifth straight game with a sprained right ankle, however, the UConn product is scheduled to be re-evaluated Friday. Xu was given the game off, due to traveling back to New York from Sydney, Australia, where she had been part of the Chinese FIBA Asia Cup championship-winning team.
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