Liberty awaken with third-quarter rally to defeat Atlanta Dream

The Liberty trailed by 11 points at halftime, but coach Sandy Brondello told her players at the intermission that they were going to win. Apparently, it was exactly what they needed to hear.

After shooting 28.9% from the field in the first half, including missing 15 of their first 19 shots, the Liberty played to the level of the defending WNBA champions in the third quarter on Sunday afternoon. They fulfilled Brondello’s prophecy with a 79-72 victory over the Atlanta Dream in front of a sellout crowd of 17,265 at Barclays Center.

It was the Liberty’s first game in four days, their longest off period in more than a month, and they appeared rusty early as they fell behind by 19 points.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Brondello said. “One was not our identity, the second one was.”

After trailing 42-31 at halftime, the Liberty outscored the Dream 24-11 in the third quarter to take a 55-53 lead, helped by a 24-8 run over 8:03.

Leonie Fiebich  scored eight of her 21 points in the third period, including a three-pointer that gave the Liberty (14-6) a 52-51 lead with 57 seconds left in the quarter. It was their first lead since 5:02 left in the first period.

Fiebich sank another three-pointer on the ensuing Liberty possession. She shot 8-for-9 from the field, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. The Liberty never trailed in the fourth quarter.

“She’s the most pure shooter I’ve ever seen,” Brondello said. “And with her size at 6-4, her ability to come off a screen to just get balanced and shoot it, it’s beautiful.”

“No matter what, she’s just going to give you big moments in the game,” said Kennedy Burke, who added seven points. “Whether it’s offense, defense, and she did that today. She made some huge shots for us.”

Breanna Stewart  had 18 points and 10 rebounds, but some of her most impactful moments came from dribbling the ball up the court. Stewart played as a point forward the majority of the third quarter during the Liberty’s game-changing run.

“The ball was really moving,” she said. “It wasn’t stopping and players were playing with confidence . . . were pushing the tempo. We knew we were trying to make a run and getting active defensively and getting out into offense.”

Allisha Gray had 16 points for the Dream (12-9).

The early struggles led Brondello to turn Stewart, a 6-4 forward, into a point forward for a different look.

“I wasn’t happy with the first half at all,” Brondello said. “We had four days off and we didn’t bring any kind of grit or energy, so it’s like a reset in the second half. We went with what worked.”

The Liberty shot 47.5% from the field in the second half, including 41.2% (7-for-17) from beyond the arc. They shot just 18.2% from three-point range in the first half.

“We’re relentless,” Brondello said. “This is a group that stays together. We’re going to weather the storm .  .  . At halftime, I said, ‘We are winning this game.’  ”