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Part of the reason the New York Liberty took the leap from contender to champion in 2024 was because the team vastly improved its bench over the previous season. For New York to repeat as WNBA champs, its new-look bench will have to prove itself too.
As the preseason rolls on, second-year guard Marquesha Davis is showing she can be part of the equation.
Davis had 10 points on 4-9 shooting for the Liberty on Friday night in a 94-86 loss to the Connecticut Sun, showing more confidence with the ball than she did as a rookie, fearlessly taking the ball to the basket for easy lay-ins multiple times. Her newest teammate, Natasha Cloud, has taken notice, even comparing her to four-time All-Star Kahleah Copper.
After yesterday’s game, I asked Natasha Cloud about the confidence Marquesha Davis and Jaylyn Sherrod displayed on the court.
Here is her response! #WNBATwitter 🗽🏀 pic.twitter.com/EP3q1dxNV2
— Alford Corriette (@alfcorriette) May 10, 2025
“I see her as a player that can be very much like Kahleah Copper on both ends of the floor,” Cloud said. “I think that's a good comparison, but Q is her own player and her own person, so I'm excited to get to play with Q and to see where she continues to grow.”
It's high praise for a player who appeared in only 20 games last year and averaged 1.2 points in limited action. But Cloud has seen more than fans and the media have. She's played alongside her at training camp against practice players and opposite her in drills.
As for Davis, she knows Copper's bona fides. The Phoenix Mercury guard scored 21 per game last season and is a career 35% three-point shooter who has also proven to be a capable rebounder. Davis took Cloud's comments to heart.
‘It means a lot,” she said. “[Copper is] somebody I compare my game to and I know Tash played with her.”
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Cloud has found that Davis appears comfortable in her second year playing at the highest level.
“I wanna say Q has had a really great, training camp,” she said. “I can see her comfort level from playing in year two. She makes the right reads,she moves well without the ball. She plays really well off of [Breanna Stewart] and [Jonquel Jones], which is great for our offense as well. And then on the defensive end, Q is a really good defender.”
Liberty coach Sandy Brondello has seen Marquesha Davis mature
No one knows more about Davis' development than her head coach, and Liberty leader Sandy Brondello had plenty of praise for her after Friday night's game.
“She's a way more mature player now,” Brondello said. “She's still going to make some mistakes but she's better than what she was. And that's what you want. The development, that's a part of it, isn't it? It's the best league in the world, so they're going against the best players.”
Davis made the most of her offseason, heading to China to play for the Shandong Six Stars. Brondello called that out as critical to her guard's development, while Davis herself told the media what she worked on overseas.
“My threes are something I worked on during the offseason so I think eventually they'll come,” she said, adding that playing in China helped boost her confidence and learn how to make better reads on the court.
Davis missed both threes she attempted on Friday, but she took one all of last year. That's going to change in 2025. The Liberty don't necessarily need her to be a knock-down shooter off the bench, but if she is showing to be the all-around threat her team thinks she is, her time will come for the defending champs.
