The New York Liberty have fallen apart during the second half of the 2025 WNBA season. New York is on a two-game losing streak after their 66-58 defeat against Golden State on Tuesday night. The Liberty are understandably frustrated with how they've played with the playoffs just around the corner.
New York punched its ticket to the playoffs on Tuesday night despite the loss. The Fever lost to the Mercury earlier in the evening, which locked up the Liberty's spot in the postseason.
But Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello was not in a celebratory mood after the game.
“We just lost the game. Yeah, we're in the playoffs, but we still lost the game,” Brondello said per ESPN's Kendra Andrews.
The Liberty were without point guard Sabrina Ionescu once again on Tuesday. It was her third straight absence with a left toe injury.
“We haven't lived up to our expectations, and yes, obviously, injuries have been a part of that,” Brondello said before the game. “We've played so many different rotations, and as a team we're not always cohesive because of the lack of time together, but that's not an excuse.”
Hopefully Ionescu can get healthy in time for the playoffs.
Otherwise the Liberty could be in trouble.
Liberty star Breanna Stewart disappointed, frustrated after Valkyries loss
Breanna Stewart said what everyone was thinking after the big loss.
Stewie expressed frustration about the Liberty's recent rough patch.
“This has been disappointing, collectively,” Stewart said. “Yeah, there can be bright spots or whatever, but we have three games left and we're not where we need to be. It's frustrating, it's tough.”
New York collapsed in the second quarter after building a four-point lead in the first. The Valkyries outscored the Liberty 26-8 and walked into halftime up 14.
Stewart called Tuesday's game a microcosm of the season.
“It's the story of our season right now,” Stewart said. “When we have to take the ball out of the net, we struggle. We gave up 26 points [in the second quarter] and our spacing was a little bad. And I thought sometimes we had good looks and we just missed, but to put ourselves in a hole like that, it's like …”
The Liberty close the regular season with games against the Storm, Mystics, and Sky.
Getting back into a rhythm will be more important than stacking wins.
