Liberty rally in fourth, collapse in OT
Sabrina Ionescu of the Liberty is guarded by Aari McDonld of the Dream during their game at Barclays Center on Thursday. Credit: Errol Anderson
When the last day of June came and went, the Liberty could look back knowing they had rebounded nicely overall from their miserable May days. But this month didn’t end the way they wanted.
They made a stirring fourth-quarter comeback from 13 points down against Atlanta to go up by six Thursday night at Barclays Center. But Erica Wheeler hit a buzzer-beating three to force OT.
Then Tiffany Hayes scored nine of her 21 in the extra session.
Final score: Dream 92, Liberty 81.
The final score overall for 11 games in June: Liberty 7, Opponents 4.
So a 1-7 May has turned into 8-11. And yet …
“We had a golden opportunity, I thought, and we let it slip, to be quite honest, to finish the month,” said Sandy Brondello, their first-year coach. “It’s been a really good month.”
So what happened in June? Brondello pointed to several factors, including the quality work of All-Stars Sabrina Ionescu and Natasha Howard, and the players finally building chemistry after the arrival of a new coach with a new system.
“And obviously the addition of Marine Johannes certainly has helped us,” Brondello said.
Johannes joined the cause on June 8 after her overseas season. The flashy French guard brought skills at both ends.
“She’s a fabulous player,” Brondello said. “She’s really fit in well.”
Johannes contributed 12 points and four assists. Stefanie Dolson led the Liberty with 20 points, and Ionescu had 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. But they missed point guard Crystal Dangerfield, who was released last Sunday due to salary cap issues. She’s expected to be re-signed before Sunday’s game at Los Angeles.
“We went back to having no pure point guard,” Brondello said.
Hayes buried two threes to start overtime. Atlanta (9-11) scored the first nine to take a 88-79 lead.
But Wheeler’s straight-on three at the end of regulation had a big impact on OT.
“The shot to end regulation kind of deflated us a little bit,” Ionescu said.
It was 63-50 when Dolson scored seven straight points to launch a 17-0 burst.
“It goes out the window when you don’t finish,” Ionescu said.
There are now 10 games on the Liberty’s July itinerary, including five against the current top two teams, Las Vegas and defending champ Chicago.
“As for July,” Brondello said, “I think it’s a good test for us.”
