For the second consecutive game, a potential New York Liberty win came down to the final quarter, except this time they couldn’t come out on top.
The Liberty had a one-point advantage entering the final 10 minutes against the Phoenix Mercury, but couldn’t capitalize as they were handed their first loss at Barclays Center, 89-81.
“We’re starting games really slow, and then we’re putting ourselves at a deficit, having to work really hard in the second half to come back, and that’s just not the way we want to play,” guard Natasha Cloud said. “We want to throw the first punch in the first half.”
The teams were neck-and-neck until New York attempted to break away on an 8-0 run with 2:10 left in the first quarter. The run was capped off by a three-pointer by Cloud, who ended the night with eight points against her former team.
Cloud has been quiet on the scoring end recently; however, she has contributed to other aspects of the game and continued that tonight, finishing with 10 assists and three rebounds.
Phoenix wasn’t intimidated by the run and ended the quarter trailing just 17-15. The second quarter was much of the same as the first, with neither team separating itself until the final minutes.
Breanna Stewart’s and-one play fueled Jaylyn Sherrod on the defensive end, and the rookie’s full-court pressure forced Phoenix’s Satou Sabally to turn the ball over on the inbound. Stewart used that energy in return to knock down a triple, putting the score at 37-31. The Mercury once again weren’t bothered and ended the quarter on a 10-1 run to lead 41-38.
Attempts from New York to completely break away were crushed on the boards. Jonquel Jones went down early in the second quarter and did not return. Without their big rebounder, the Liberty were outrebounded 42-32 and 15-6 on the offensive end, which Phoenix used to score 26 second-chance points.
“Obviously, we’re not happy with the way we played, you know, we should have been a little bit more aggressive in that first half and generated some energy,” head coach Sandy Brondello said. “The turnovers and the offensive rebounds, that really hurt us. We know that, but there’s no excuse the way we play.”
Stewart took over in the third quarter. She scored the first 11 Liberty points in the frame, helping her tally 35 points in the game. However, Monique Akoa Makani was having similar success for her team, also scoring 11 points in the quarter and finishing the night with 21 to lead the Mercury.
The Mercury continued to make it hard on the Liberty and took back the lead with an and-one from Sabally in the final seconds of the third quarter but Stewart responded with a jumper to go into the fourth quarter up 65-64.
The Liberty looked to use the momentum into the final spurt of the game, but instead faltered. They didn’t find consistency on either end of the floor, and the Mercury took complete advantage.
Turnovers continued to be a problem for the Liberty. They gave up the ball 20 times in the game, with 14 coming in the first 20 minutes. The Mercury scored 19 points off New York’s mistakes but also gave up 18 points from their 13 turnovers.
“We have to be better,” forward Kennedy Burke said. “There are gonna be teams that are going to make their marks, and we just have to adjust offensively, making sure that the ball moves on both sides, weak side, strong side. And I feel like we’re at our best when everyone touches the ball on the offensive end.”
