Liberty suffer first loss of season as Teresa Weatherspoon's Chicago Sky earn win

The first timeout of the game was called Thursday night at Barclays Center and the video tribute rolled for the sellout crowd of 12,049 with highlights of an energetic, passionate point guard from the early days of Liberty history.

And then the PA announcer asked the fans to welcome back Teresa Weatherspoon as the camera cut to her. They did, loudly, and she waved back with appreciation.

Weatherspoon didn’t play here. The Garden was the Liberty’s home during her seven seasons.

The five-time All-Star, Ring of Honor member and Hall of Famer, who’s still the Liberty’s all-time leader in assists and steals, was back in New York for the first time with the Chicago Sky. She’s taking her first shot as a WNBA head coach at the age of 58.

Weatherspoon had a very happy return.

The Sky pulled away in the fourth quarter and beat the Liberty, 90-81, to hand them their first loss after a 4-0 start.

“This place is very special to me, always will be,” Weatherspoon said, referencing the city and Liberty fans. “They’ve treated me with such kindness and generosity from Day One of me entering into this place in ’97. And it has been the same from that day until this day.

“So I’m thankful and grateful for the love that’s given . . . I throw it right back at them because I love every one of them tremendously, from the fans to this organization.”

Marina Mabrey powered the Sky (2-1) with 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Rookie Angel Reese added 13 points and nine rebounds.

Sabrina Ionescu scored 19 points and Breanna Stewart had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Liberty. Jonquel Jones was plagued by foul trouble and played just 20:40. The 6-6 center finished with eight points, four rebounds and five fouls. Chicago outscored the home team, 46-36, in the paint.

“Maybe this is what we need because we’re not where we need to be,” coach Sandy Brondello said. “We have to have a little bit more of a grittiness and griminess and resiliency.”

After trailing by 11 early in the third, the Liberty rallied to grab their first lead since the first quarter with 7:45 left in the game when Jones drove for a layup. It was 68-67. But the Sky countered with eight straight, including a tiebreaking three by Dana Evans. Mabrey soon made a three to put Chicago up 78-69. The lead moved to as many as 14.

“I think we weren’t playing the way that got us to these last four wins,” Stewart said. “ . . . They just got to exploit us defensively and then we were getting a little bit stuck on offense.”

The Sky led 40-32 at the break and soon was up 45-34. Then the Liberty took off on an 11-0 run that featured a four-point play by Stewart. But in the end, this “was a bad night at the office,” according to Brondello.

“It’s not the end of the world,” Ionescu said. “It’s one game. We knew we weren’t going to win every single game this year.”