Shorthanded Liberty beat Fever to halt 7-game skid
Sabrina Ionescu of the Liberty drives up the court against the Indiana Fever on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, at Barclays Center. Credit: Errol Anderson/Errol Anderson
The Liberty were back at Barclays Center Wednesday night, riding a seven-game slide. And then they suffered another loss before their game with Indiana even started.
The team announced that 2021 All-Star Betnijah Laney had undergone arthroscopic surgery on her right knee earlier in the day. ETA for her return? About eight weeks.
Yet the Liberty, also minus the injured DiDi Richards and Jocelyn Willoughby, went out and managed to stop the slide. Sabrina Ionescu paced four double-figure scorers with 23 points in an 87-74 victory.
“We needed it really bad,” coach Sandy Brondello said after they moved to 2-7.
They needed to start overcoming the Laney loss.
The guard/forward led the Liberty at 16.8 points per game last season. She had arthroscopic surgery on her left knee in November, then injured the right knee in training camp.
She missed the opener and the recently completed three-game trip. Then came the partial meniscectomy, or meniscus fragment removal.
“Obviously, ‘B’ is one of our best players,” Brondello said. “To win in this league, you need your superstars to be great. It’s unfortunate. It’s part of the sport.”
The score was tied at 68 with six minutes left. Then the Liberty went on a 9-0 run. When Rebecca Allen buried a three, it was 77-68 with 3:43 left. A win was finally coming.
“It’s a nice feeling,” said Allen, who contributed 17 points.
“It’s one that even Sabrina said in the locker room, ‘Let’s remember this feeling.’ It’s a feeling that we want to continue to have.”
They got off to a great start, jumping in front 22-7 in the first quarter.
But Victoria Vivians scored nine for the Fever (3-9) in the second quarter. Danielle Robinson hit a 34-foot three at the buzzer.
The Liberty had gone from up 15 to down seven at halftime, 47-40.
Kelsey Mitchell scored five of her 17 in the first minute of the third and the deficit was 12. Then the Liberty rallied. Ionescu scored 12, and they were down just 66-65 heading for the fourth.
“I think particularly in this league, you blink your eyes and the season’s over,” Ionescu said.
“So I think it was just also kind of an understanding of purpose, and let’s not let these games pass by and decide to change toward the end of the season. Why not figure out what we can do now?”
