Liberty take Game 1 over Dream thanks to big effort from rookie Leonie Fiebich

The postseason tipped off for the Liberty on Sunday at Barclays Center, beginning with a series that should, in theory, bring them the least amount of peril.

Sure, Atlanta beat them here on Thursday night. But the Liberty had nothing to play for, having already clinched the top seed/best record/home-court advantage throughout the WNBA playoffs. The Dream needed that game to claim the eighth and final seed after an injury-riddled run.

“That probably was our first playoff game,” Atlanta coach Tanisha Wright said.

The Liberty needed to flick on the bright-light switch for the first real playoff game and start of a run that they hope will end with a celebration over the franchise’s first WNBA championship.

They indeed flicked that switch for Game 1 of this best-of-three opening-round matchup. The Liberty shot out to an 18-point lead in the first quarter and rolled to an 83-69 win.

Now they can clinch their ticket to the best-of-five semis against two-time defending champ Las Vegas or Seattle with a Game 2 win on Tuesday night at Barclays.

“We’ve got big goals,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said before the game, “but we can’t look too far ahead.”

Brondello made a lineup change, inserting a weapon that the Liberty didn’t have last year in their run to the Finals. Rookie Leonie Fiebich started in the backcourt in place of 14th-year point guard Courtney Vandersloot, with Sabrina Ionescu able to handle the point.

Big payoff.

Fiebich, who filled in as a starter 15 times during the regular season, turned in the best scoring game of her rising WNBA career. The even-keeled 6-4 guard, whose high was 16 points during the regular season, led the Liberty with 21. She shot 7-for-8, including 4-for-4 on threes.

“She’s just very businesslike,” Brondello said.

Brenna Stewart contributed a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Ionescu delivered 17 points, five rebounds and five assists. Rhyne Howard topped the Dream with 14 points.

After ending two victories short of a championship last year, the Liberty returned with their stars having that full season of experience together and they came back with more depth. This 2024 team wound up matching the 2023 team as the winningest ones in franchise history at 32-8.

“Just chemistry,” Brondello said of what’s mainly changed this season, “understanding what we want, how do we want to play, how it all fits together, and knowing that they need each other to be great.

“For the most part, we had consistency. Any time you can spend more time together, you can learn and grow. And that’s the journey of life, isn't it?”

The Dream’s journey had brought better health lately as opposed to June. That’s when they got swept by the Liberty in the first three games of the four-game season series.

Atlanta won its final three of the regular season to finish at 15-25. Wright, a former Liberty guard who was on the 2015 team that had the top seed and fell in the Eastern finals, certainly wasn’t thinking her team had no shot.

“Anything can happen,” Wright said.

But it didn’t happen in this game. The Liberty never trailed. They just dominated.

They couldn’t have started better, moving the ball and hitting their first five shots, including three from the beyond the arc. Fiebich nailed a corner three to make it 13-4, and Wright called for time.

The Dream scored the next five points, and then the Liberty took off on a 14-0 run. When Ionescu, who scored 12 in the first quarter, knocked down a three, the lead was up to 27-9.

By the end of the quarter, it was 29-16. The Liberty were sizzling at 72.7% from the floor, going 8-for-11, including 5-for-6 on threes. At the other end, they were holding Atlanta to 35.3% shooting at 6-for-17.

The margin didn’t slip below 11 in the second quarter.

By the intermission, it was 48-30. And Fiebich had 15 points and hadn’t missed a shot, going 5-for-5, including 3-for-3 on threes. Ionescu was right behind her with 14.

Fiebich finally missed one on her seventh attempt. But she had hit a three before that and made a three after that. Stewart followed with a jumper from 19 feet away. The lead was 58-37, and Wright needed another timeout.

But the Liberty went up by as many as 22 in the third. Nothing could slow them on this day.