By Shara Talia Taylor
Sabrina Leads Liberty in Game 2 Win
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
The New York Liberty’s tenacity and teamwork were key as they came from behind to defeat the Connecticut Sun 84-77 in game 2 of the WNBA semifinals at Barclays Center Tuesday evening.
New York was down at halftime, but not out. The Liberty worked together to bounce back with five 3-pointers from Betnijah Laney, 21 points by Sabrina Ionescu, a game high 13 rebounds by Jonquel Jones and five blocked shots from Breanna Stewart, just announced as the 2023 Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player.
“We knew we had to win this game, to win on our home court,” said Liberty Head Coach Sandy Brondello. “We’re just pushing each other. You could see a very connected team today.”
The Liberty pushed past the Washington Mystics winning two games in round 1 to get to this point. New York lost game 1 to the Sun.
“I think there’s just a different mentality when you’re down one,” said Ionescu about the difference in the game 2 matchups. “This was a must win for us. We weren’t going to lose two at home, especially in front of this crowd that supported us all year long.”
New York was behind 22-16 at the end of the first quarter and not from a lack of effort. Jonquel Jones led the Liberty with nine points at the end of the quarter and Courtney Vandersloot added five points. Both teams were aggressive and played fast.
The Liberty outscored the Sun 22-20 in the second quarter, but trailed 42-38 at halftime.
The Liberty pushed ahead of the Sun with a 3-pointer by Laney in the third quarter bringing the score to 43-42. “All of them were huge momentum plays for us,” said Stewart about Laney’s 3-pointers. It helped give New York that extra push. The teams were tied at 45 and then Stewart’s layup tied the scored at 47. New York never lost the lead the remainder of the game.
Stewart finished with 11 points, five assists, two steals in addition to her blocks. Ionescu led the team in points and had five assists. Laney added 20 total points.
Tiffany Hayes led the Sun with 30 points. Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with nine assists and contributed 10 points. Thomas was runner up for the WNBA MVP award.
Stewart received a trophy on the court prior to the start of the game as she was honored and cheered on by fans.
Stewart said felt proud to win MVP in her home state of New York. “It’s means a lot to win a MVP here and to know that I came here for many reasons and that’s to help this team succeed, help this franchise continue to be great, to go after a championship, and to have the individual success along the way,” Stewart said.
She said she wants to continue to be great every night and now the focus is to finish this series. The Liberty now travel to Connecticut for game 3 on Friday and game 4 Sunday..
