Maybe it took us all too long to notice, but by this point in the season, it's clear: The New York Liberty have an utter embarrassment of riches.
Ivana Dojkić knew that two weeks ago when she threw out a word to reporters before a game against the Minnesota Lynx that players rarely use.
“If we do the things like we do in practice during the game, I think we are really unbeatable,” she said.
Fast-forward to Saturday and the Liberty beat the Chicago Sky, 81-67, for their second-straight win against them and their eighth win in their last nine regular season games. This time, it was without 2023 WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart and again without their best defensive player, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton.
Head coach Sandy Brondello called Stewart’s hamstring ailment “a little injury” and said she hopes Stewart will be available Tuesday against the Sun.
Leonie Fiebich and Kennedy Burke started in their places. Burke had seven points and three rebounds, while Fiebich scored 13 for the second straight game.
“The more minutes I spend on the court with my teammates, it gets easier and easier,” Fiebich said. “Getting to know them, their tendencies, where they want the ball… but they do a great job getting me my open shots, so credit to them as well.”
With Fiebich making her fifth start of the year, Dojkić moved up on the depth chart. And with Nyara Sabally’s minutes restriction raised slightly from her first game back from injury, the Liberty counted on her to do a little more.
They all did. The “next player up” cliché is thrown around far too often in the WNBA with a compact schedule and limited roster size contributing to far too many injuries. But it’s been apt for the Liberty. It just happens that unlike other teams, that next player up for New York is usually capable of starting for most other teams.
Ivana Dojkić is instant offense for the Liberty
When Dojkić made that “unbeatable” comment, she wasn’t saying no one could beat the Liberty. She was saying that if the team executes in the way it is capable, then it will win. The opponent, of course, has a say in the matter. So do the Liberty, who have taken their foot off the gas at inopportune times or had key fourth-quarter mental lapses when they couldn’t afford them.
Dojkić used that word again on Saturday after she scored 12 points in 18 minutes on 4-5 shooting. She had 11 in the first half, tying her career-high for points in a half. Nine came in the second quarter.
“I think that when we play for each other, we are really unbeatable,” she said. “So when we share the ball, when we always try to find each other in the best position, then we are very, very effective.”
Dojkić has also spoken of her role in bringing energy off the bench. Scoring bursts like the one she had Saturday go a long way toward that.
Sabrina Ionescu (28 points, six assists) felt it, and that furthers her confidence in her teammates, whether they start or come off the bench.
“It makes my job easy because when [the bench comes] out there, I have full trust in them to go out and shoot their shots, and give us energy,” Ionescu said. “They're the definition of a true pro…honestly, every single person on our bench, and I think that's what makes us a really tough team because our bench is just as good as any bench in the league.”
That’s how the Liberty can beat the Sky by double-digits on the road without two starters, with Courtney Vandersloot contributing one point and three assists, and with de facto sixth woman Kayla Thornton not scoring at all.
In addition to Dojkić’s 12, Sabally had six in limited minutes. Those two outscored Chicago’s bench, 18-17, while usual bench players Fiebich and Burke combined for 20 more.
The Liberty have one more game before the Olympic break — a Tuesday evening matchup with the second-place Connecticut Sun. New York has already beaten them twice on the road.
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