The Liberty ended the first half of the season on a high note.
Facing an Indiana Fever team that was without Caitlin Clark, the Liberty cruised to a 98-77 victory at Barclays Center on Wednesday night behind one of their most well-rounded performances of the year.
Breanna Stewart led the way with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting, 11 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks. Sabrina Ionescu added 15 points and a season-high nine assists, several of which came on highlight-worthy passes.
“Usually the games when you’re leaving or you’re going to something are the hardest, because there’s so much happening,” Stewart said. “You’re packing. You’ve got this tomorrow. You’ve got that tomorrow. I wanted to set the tone and really focus in.”
Stewart and Ionescu are set to represent the Liberty at Saturday night’s WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, and they looked the part in Wednesday’s rout.
Ionescu drilled a pair of 3-pointers and made a tough reverse lay-up during a 10-point first quarter. Ionescu, who is set to compete in Friday night’s 3-point contest in Indy, went 3-of-9 from behind the arc.
Stewart had five assists in the first quarter and repeatedly got into the lane for easy baskets, including on a third-quarter cut in which the right-handed Ionescu found her with a lefty bounce pass.
“Just taking what the defense gives me,” said Stewart, who finished with five lay-ups. “If it’s going to be like tonight, I’m going to try and get the basket every single time because it’s so open. Another night might be more on the perimeter or dishing to my teammates.”
That pair fueled a Liberty offense that shot 57.8% from the field and went 14-of-27 (51.9%) on 3-pointers.
The Liberty’s uptempo attack proved to be too much for a Fever team on the second leg of a back-to-back, as did a Liberty defense that blocked nine shots and held Indiana to 14 points in the second quarter. During that second quarter, the Liberty unleashed a 19-8 run that put the game out of reach.
Clark was ruled out about two hours before tip-off with a right groin injury, which she suffered in the final minute of Tuesday’s win over the Connecticut Sun.
The 23-year-old Clark underwent imaging Wednesday and is considered day-to-day. The sharp-shooting sensation has missed 11 games this season, having previously sat out with left quad and left groin injuries.
The Fever (12-11) struggled Wednesday without Clark, whose elite scoring and play-making — her 8.8 assists per game rank second in the WNBA — command considerable defensive attention and open up Indiana’s offense.
Indiana shot just 36.8% from the field and 25% from 3-point range. Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while the Liberty limited fellow All-Star Aliyah Boston to seven points on 1-of-8 shooting.
The Liberty enter the All-Star break at 15-6, the second-best record in the WNBA. They trail the Minnesota Lynx (20-4) by 3.5 games for the top seed.
Wednesday’s win capped a roller-coaster first half for the defending champion Liberty, who jumped out to a franchise-best 9-0 start but endured a cold stretch after star center Jonquel Jones suffered a right ankle injury.
The Liberty are 8-1 with Jones in the lineup and 7-5 without her.
“There’s no pointing fingers. It’s taking ownership of what we need to be better [at]. Our culture’s strong, and that’s what you need,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said before Wednesday’s game.
“When you face adversity, you’re going to [learn] about your team and how you respond to the highs and lows of a normal season. I think we’ve been very professional in the way that we approach day in and day out. We know there’s areas to work on.”
After a 2-5 stretch, the Liberty have won three games in a row.
“We were losing some of those games ourselves,” Ionescu said. “We were not coming out with the right energy. We were not playing Liberty basketball, and there was just this realization of, ‘If we just settle into doing that, we’re in a really good spot.’ Sandy continued to keep us together, which, in a time like that, can make or break teams.”
Jones expects to return when the Liberty open the second half on Tuesday with another game against the Fever at Barclays Center.