Liberty weathers Bird-less Storm
This was a must-win for a Liberty squad clinging to a No. 7 seed in the playoffs. And the team not only managed to stuff the offensive juggernaut Seattle Storm, it pulled off an 83-79 upset.
The Storm played without olympians Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird, both given rest days for load management — and so Stewart could spend time with her newborn.
In the final minute, Natasha Howard — who was just put back into the game after resting for most of it — forced herself under the basket pushing back against Storm defender Mercedes Russell for a layup to tie the game, 79-79. On the next possession, the Libs stopped both Katie Lou Samuelson and Jewell Loyd from responding.
Howard got the rebound off Loyd’s missed layup and pushed the ball out to Sabrina Ionescu. Ionescu found an open Betnijah Laney out by the Liberty’s 25th anniversary logo with four seconds left on the shot clock. Laney drove, tried to fake out Stephanie Talbot, then pulled up at the top of the key to drain a two-point shot at the buzzer as the Barclays Center crowd rose to its feet.
“I wanted to make sure I was in position... if (Sabrina) wanted to pass to me, that I was just available for that,” Laney said. “Then, you know, time was ticking and it had to go up.
“I did not call ‘bank,’ ” she continued. “I thought it was going straight in, but, look, I will take it any way. As long as it’s a basket and a win, I’m good.”
In the final eight seconds, DiDi Richards closed off Loyd trying to even the score. Loyd turned the ball over to Laney and Sami Whitcomb sealed the win with two foul shots.
“I think we all knew how big a win this was for us,” Ionescu said. “I think honestly just the growth of our team, as well. I think we’re just continuing to learn to play together, learn what is helping us win games, what we’re doing to lose games and how it’s affected us through this long season.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to build from this and learn.”
Loyd struck first the start of both halves, opening with uncontested treys. And through both halves, the Liberty found itself trying to play catch up, both in the box score and on the court with the much faster-paced Storm. Loyd poured in 35 points.
“There were times in transition we didn’t know where she was on the court,” Laney said of Loyd.
The Liberty fell behind by as much as 15 points in the third quarter but got much-needed three-point shots in the fourth from Bec Allen. There was also the defensive stronghold put on Loyd by Richards — who stopped her from making a single shot the final 10 minutes.
“We don’t win this game without DiDi, there’s no question about that,” coach Walt Hopkins said.