Liberty struggle in second half, fall to Storm
Sabrina Ionescu of the Liberty battles for the ball against Erica Wheeler of the Seattle Storm during a WNBA game at Barclays Center on Sunday. Credit: Anna Sergeeva
A neck injury sidelined Sabrina Ionescu the first time the Liberty played the Storm, a 10-point Seattle win on June 22 in the Pacific Northwest.
Two weeks later at Barclays Center on Sunday afternoon, Ionescu came out blazing with 20 first-half points.
But she was held to two points and 1-for-10 shooting in a much different second half for her and the Liberty, who scored only six third-quarter points and fell behind by as many as 19 in the fourth.
Seattle coasted to a 79-70 win in front of a crowd of 15,515, securing its second win over the Liberty in as many games this season.
“Some trapping, some switching, trying to deny everywhere,” Ionescu said of how Seattle limited her in the final 20 minutes after the Liberty took a 44-41 halftime lead.
“I mean, in turn, I think just our turnovers led to easy baskets for them, and then they were able to set up their defense. And we weren’t able to just get out in transition and run like we did in the first half, which is just tough when there’s people flying out.
“Obviously their length, they’re a great defensive team. And so I think just continuing to kind of keep us on our heels and not on our front foot turned into that third and fourth quarter for us.”
Ionescu finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Liberty (12-6), who have lost six of their last nine games.
Breanna Stewart, who entered Sunday as the WNBA’s third-leading scorer at 20.5 points per game, scored only eight points for her first single-digit scoring game of the season.
“I think they made things tough by . . . there was always someone there,” Stewart said. “Whether it was a switch and then someone was coming behind, or the blind side of catching the pass for a layup and someone coming in. But they did a great job. It was a good game for them.”
The Storm outscored the Liberty 22-6 in the third quarter. The Liberty shot 2-for-18 (11.1%) and 0-for-6 from three-point range in the quarter after making 48.5% of their shots and going 8-for-13 from outside the arc in the first half.
“They came out and executed, and we didn’t,” coach Sandy Brondello said. “We didn’t have enough fight there. And to score six points, it’s not what we’re about. But we struggled to score in that second half. Their switching bothered us, and I think we went away from probably what worked in the first half.”
Natasha Cloud, who had 12 points and one assist, hit two career milestones. She tied Candace Parker for eighth on the WNBA’s all-time assists list with 1,634 and became the 67th player in league history to hit 300 career three-pointers.
Cloud did not play in the fourth quarter. Brondello said “she got hit” and could not come back in.
“I’m good,” Cloud said. “I’m not going to really talk about my body right now. It’s just, I got banged up. It’s a long season, so I’m fine. I’m going to get treatment, and then we go from there.”
Gabby Williams scored 16 points and Nneka Ogwumike added 15 to pace four starters with at least 13 points for the Storm (12-7).
Seattle had a 44-28 points-in-the-paint advantage as the Liberty shot 14-for-40. They still are without 6-6 center Jonquel Jones, who is out with an ankle injury. Jones is not expected to return before the WNBA All-Star break from July 18-22.
Seattle extended its lead to 71-52 on a third straight bucket by Dominique Malonga (11 points) with 8:06 remaining. The Liberty never got within single digits until the final minute, when Nyara Sabally’s layup made it 79-70 with 52.1 seconds left.
Reserve forward Isabelle Harrison was helped off the floor with 2:31 left in the third quarter and was ruled out minutes later with a right knee injury. Brondello said she will undergo imaging.
Ionescu, who shot 1-for-10 and managed only three points in the first half of Thursday’s 89-79 win over Los Angeles, shot 6-for-9 from the field and 5-for-6 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes Sunday.
“We’d rather see this adversity early on in the year and be able to hit the ground running when it really matters most,” she said. “But we’re going to be just fine.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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