Sometimes it takes a good early season blowout to see what you have on your bench, and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart got to see exactly that on Tuesday night. Suffice it to say she loved what she saw.

“Our bench and our depth is what separates us from anyone else, the ability to go this deep and know that there's gonna be just consistency in everything that we do,” Stewart said. “I’m happy that everybody's coming in with confidence all the time.”

The reigning WNBA champs defeated the expansion Golden State Valkyries, 95-67, in a game that was never close.

The Liberty went up 15-2 and head coach Sandy Brondello turned to her bench early on. Kennedy Burke got the sub show started for New York, scoring a quick five points in 40 seconds late in the first quarter.

Then, Marine Johannès got going.

Liberty fans have been waiting for her to show off her three-point marksmanship this season after she came into the game 2-8 from distance. They got it in the second quarter.

After Isabelle Harrison scored to open the frame, Johannès hit consecutive threes in a 22-second span that put New York up 35-13. She finished with 18 points on 6-11 three-point shooting.

Combined with Burke turning in another solid performance (seven points, five rebounds) and contributions from Harrison and Rebekah Gardner, the New York bench scored 37 points.

For Gardner, it was a season-high eight points on 4-6 shooting.

“She continues to get better and better,” Brondello said. “She’s getting more comfortable in how we play and what she actually brings to us. I just love how she can get downhill and finish at the rim. She put so much work into it and she holds herself to high standards.

Stewart and Brondello's praise of the team’s second unit comes from a place of experience. As last season wore on, the Liberty began to realize their own depth, riding contributions from Leonie Fiebich, Kayla Thornton and Nyara Sabally to plenty of wins down the stretch.

This year’s bench looks different. Fiebich is a starter and Thornton now plays for Golden State. But instead, the Liberty have a healthy Burke and a stateside Johannès who have made all the difference early in the season.

Even better, Johannès is here to stay. She elected not to participate in FIBA Women’s Eurobasket, meaning she will be with the team all season.

“It was really important for me to do a full season [in New York],” Johannès said.

Now four games in, the Liberty have 40 left — or the amount of total regular season games they played last year. The starting unit is well aware that the bench is going to have to continue playing a major role.

As Sabrina Ionescu put it, the group has to “come in and continue the lead that we have built or if we're down, they've got to come in and do our job better.”

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Marine Johannès has her 2025 Liberty breakout

New York Liberty guard Marine Johannès (23) goes up for a 3-pointer against Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) during a game between the Indiana Fever and the New York Libertyat Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Grace Smith/USA Today Network via Imagn Images

Liberty fans know what Johannès is capable of. They saw it during her August heater in 2023 when she went 14-21 from three over a five-game stretch that included the Commissioner’s Cup championship game.

They were just waiting for the 2025 version.

Johannès has looked fine in practice, getting shots up with minimal time and space necessary. It just hadn’t translated into a game yet.

Seeing her provide a spark off the bench was a welcome sight.

“I'm so happy for her. Any given night it could happen,” Ionescu said. “We want her to be confident, and I think she missed the first and she just continued to shoot and got really hot and that's what Marine’s capable of doing.”

Johannès is doing her best to hunt her shot more. There’s no question she can knock them down with the best in the league — she just needs to play each game like she knows it.

“I was too passive in the last game,” she said of her scoreless performance against the Indiana Fever on Saturday in which she played 15 minutes and took only two shots. “I have to keep going. Just my mentality, playing with more confidence.”

The 66 combined bench minutes also help considering the stretch the team has begun. The Liberty will face Golden State again on Thursday before traveling to Washington on Friday to play the Mystics and returning home for a game against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday.