Liberty slump into Olympic break

Drop second straight in 71-54 loss to Connecticut at Barclays

July 13, 2021 John Torenli, Sports Editor

Sabrina Ionescu goes up for one of her six missed shots in Sunday's pre-Olympic break loss to the Connecticut Sun at Barclays Center. AP Photo by Brittainy Newman

Share this:

The New York Liberty were hoping to go into their extended Olympic break on a high note this past weekend at Downtown’s Barclays Center.

Instead, they’ll have more than a month to lament a pair of humbling losses, including Sunday’s 71-54 defeat to the Connecticut Sun in front of 1,988 fans on the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush.

“They pressured, the same stuff they did last game,” Liberty head coach Walt Hopkins ceded, referring to New York’s 85-64 loss in Connecticut on Jan. 5.

“They played their defense and they executed their identity far better than we countered it,” he added. “We had a game plan to attack the pressure, and we just didn’t execute it.”

Nor did they find a way to get past the Fever in Indiana last Friday night, suffering an 82-69 setback.

The two sound defeats dropped Hopkins’ squad to 10-11, but New York remained in sixth place in the WNBA standings, where only the top eight teams qualify for the playoffs.

The Liberty sit percentage points ahead of seventh-place Phoenix (9-10), one-half game in front of eighth-place Washington (8-10) and just one full game ahead of ninth-place Dallas (9-12), the first team on the outside looking in at the postseason.

That’s a tenuous position for a team that opened with five wins in its first six contests before going a disappointing 5-10 thereafter.

But New York will have plenty of time to retrain its focus on a run at the franchise’s first-ever WNBA title.

The Liberty are off until Aug. 15, when they will return to the hardwood at Minnesota.

Kylee Shook scored a career-best 16 points in New York’s home loss to Connecticut on Sunday. AP Photo by Adam Hunger

Between now and then, Hopkins must find a way to get veteran forward Natasha Howard (knee) back in the mix and find more playing time for second-year point guard Sabrina Ionescu, who was limited to 21 minutes Sunday as she continues to work her way back from left ankle tendinitis.

“She’s really had a lot to deal with this first half of the season with that injury,” Hopkins said of his quarterback on the floor.

“She’s tried to fight through it, but there’s no question it’s affected her. I would imagine that this break and this rest is going to do wonders for her.”

Ionescu went 0-for-6, including 0-for-3 from 3-point range, vs. the Fever as the Liberty combined to shoot a dismal 30 percent from the field while misfiring on 20 of 29 shots from long distance.

Kylee Shook appeared to be the only New York player with some shooting touch in the pre-break finale, hitting four 3-pointers en route to a career-high 16 points.

Rookie of the Year front-runner Michaela Onyenwere added 12 points for the Liberty, who had heartened their fans by winning three of four before dropping two in a row ahead of their hiatus.

Jazmine Jones added 10 points off the bench for New York, which made just 11 of 48 field goals when Shook wasn’t shooting.

Sami Whitcomb will be in Las Vegas this weekend representing the Liberty in the annual 3-Point Shootout prior to the WNBA All-Star Game. AP Photo by Brittainy Newman

GIVE ME LIBERTY: Apparently, the powers that be at WNBA All-Star Weekend heard Hopkins’ plea to get guard Sami Whitcomb in the 3-Point Contest this weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. Whitcomb was officially added to the competition last week, making her the second Liberty player chosen to All-Star event after forward Betnijah Laney earned a spot on the roster. Whitcomb is shooting a team-high 45.7 percent from 3-point range and leading the league in total 3-pointers made (53) in her first season with the Liberty. She is also averaging a career-best 12.6 points per contest at the break. Whitcomb was selected to compete against Sun forward Jonquel Jones, who led all scorers with 17 points Sunday, Seattle guard Jewell Loyd and Chicago’s Allie Quigley.