Liberty's Courtney Vandersloot has persevered through a difficult season on and off the floor

Courtney Vandersloot didn’t start, but there she was finishing.

One of the best point guards in WNBA history dribbled out the final seconds for the Liberty just past the midcourt line, having played the entire fourth quarter of the semifinal clincher against the Aces. She launched the game-breaking run, driving for a couple of baskets.

“Really a difference-maker in that fourth quarter,” coach Sandy Brondello said, “because of her ability to get downhill, because they’re so worried about our other star players.”

Game 4 on Sunday in Las Vegas got the Liberty to Game 1 of the WNBA Finals against Minnesota on Thursday night in Brooklyn.

Vandersloot again was working off the bench at Barclays Center. That’s her job these days.

This hasn’t been an easy season for her. There have been a couple of difficult issues for her to try to handle at the age of 35 — the death of her mother and then the loss of her place in the starting five. But she has managed to cope.

“It’s been a roller coaster,” Vandersloot told Newsday after Wednesday’s practice. “It’s like the hardest season I’ve ever had personally. To me, it’s kind of an anomaly of a season.”

The five-time All-Star missed eight games in June. Her mom was suffering from multiple myeloma. The disease claimed Jan Vandersloot’s life that month.

“Basketball is what we do; it’s not who we are,” Brondello said. “[What] Sloot’s gone through — no one wants to go through that. She’s handled it as well as she can.

“ . . . I think her mom would be very proud of her just going out and continuing to do something that she loves doing.”

But Vandersloot also had to deal with the decision that came the day before the start of the postseason. She found herself coming off the bench for the first time in a game since 2017, when she was with Chicago.

“Sloot handled it like a vet and like a leader,” Breanna Stewart said.

Brondello elevated 6-4 All-Rookie guard Leonie Fiebich, who brings size/length, an outside touch and defensive skills, to the starting five and wanted the 5-8 Vandersloot to provide a boost off the bench with her ballhandling and playmaking skills.

“She’s all class,” Brondello said. “She’s all about the team. She’s very valued here. The move to the bench, I think she’s handled it well, but it’s actually helped us become a better team. I think she sees that.”

The Liberty signed her before last season after she played 11 years with the Sky. Vandersloot averaged 30.4 minutes, 10.5 points and 8.1 assists, leading the league in the latter category for the seventh time.

Her numbers were down this year— 22.3 minutes, 6.4 points and 4.8 assists.

“It isn’t something that personally I feel great in my individual season,” Vandersloot said, “but I’m fortunate to be a part of a winning team and just fit in where I can.”

But the demotion stung at first.

“It’s never a good feeling to go from the starting lineup to the bench,” she said after the Game 1 win over Atlanta in the opening round. “But I’m true when I say that I want the best for the team. And I do think it was a smart, efficient change.”

She has since had her moments, especially in the 88-84 victory over Las Vegas at Barclays Center in Game 2 — 12 points, four rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal.

“I think Sloot in her role has been big for us,” Brondello said.

Vandersloot has come to embrace it.

“I know that when I get in, I can be me,” she said. “I can be a spark.”

For her career, the 2011 first-round pick out of Gonzaga is at 10.3 points and 6.8 assists — the highest average in WNBA history. She ranks first in league history in postseason assists and second in the regular season.

“Nobody passes the ball like her,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said.

Through two rounds and six games in the postseason, Vandersloot was averaging 6.7 points and 3.3 assists in 17.5 minutes.

After helping Chicago claim the crown in 2021, she’s hoping to help the Liberty win it in this new role.

“Once I’m out there,” Vandersloot said, “it’s all the same.”

Changes coming

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced before the game that the regular season will expand from 40 to 44 games next year and that the WNBA Finals will expand from a best-of-five to a best-of-seven.