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New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart came into Sunday averaging 50 percent shooting and a career-high 7.3 free throw attempts per game. Then, she went 4-17 from the field and didn’t make a single trip to the stripe against the Seattle Storm.
It was a brutal offensive showing as the Liberty lost for the sixth time in their last nine games.
“I think I just sucked and I can say that,” Stewart said. “I have no problem with [saying] that, but I gotta get my head on the rim, finishing some shots and not getting to the free throw line at all is kind of tough, so making the refs have to really call something.”
Stewart’s bad day came three days after the Liberty seemed to get their mojo back, staging a spirited second-half comeback to beat the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday. But as a team, the Liberty shot 14-40 from the paint on Sunday and allowed the Storm to outscore them by 16 inside.
The former MVP missed her share at the rim, but it was a team-wide letdown — particularly in the third quarter when the Liberty scored only six points.
“They made things tough,” Stewart said. “There was always someone there, 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 and it was a good game for them.”
The Storm are a good team and, as Stewart did, one could acknowledge that they played well while also being honest about the Liberty’s ineffectiveness. The Liberty also committed 17 turnovers, leading to 20 Storm points.
“It's one where you just take it on the chin,” Stewart said. “I need to be better for my team and it's a quick turnaround.”
New York is in the midst of an eight-game home-stand sandwiching the All-Star break, and as Stewart alluded to, the Liberty face the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday night.
The Liberty couldn’t solve the Storm on either end
Stewart wasn’t the only Liberty player who struggled. It was also an uncharacteristically bad game from Leonie Fiebich, who had seven points and five rebounds, but only took four shots and committed five turnovers. Usually one of the best +/- players on the roster, she registered a team-low -20.
Sabrina Ionescu, who scored 20 points in the first half, was 1-10 from the field in the second. Kennedy Burke, the best three-point shooter in the WNBA this year, missed her only attempt.
As the Storm upped the defensive pressure and the missed shots mounted, the Liberty got away from their identity.
“The switching bothered us, and I think we went away from probably what worked in the first half,” head coach Sandy Brondello said. “But for me it's not the offense, the defense, I just think we have to get a little bit tougher and [have] a little bit more urgency.”
From Ionescu’s perspective, the Liberty mistakes compounded.
“Some trapping, some switching, trying to deny everywhere,” she said of the Storm’s defense on her. “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 get out in transition and run like we did in the first half.”
Making matters worse, Isabelle Harrison went down with a knee injury in the third quarter and did not return. Brondello did not have an update on her status after the game, but if she is out for any prolonged period, she’ll join Jonquel Jones as New York post players on the shelf.
