Shorthanded Liberty hit slumpsville

Suffer third loss in four games in Seattle

June 24, 2025 John Torenli, Sports Editor

Seattle's Nneka Ogwumike was a step ahead of Breanna Stewart, Marine Johannes and the rest of the slumping Liberty Sunday in Seattle. AP Photo by Lindsey Wasson

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Even Super Teams hit the skids.

Down three starters, including two due to injury, the New York Liberty absorbed their third loss in four games Sunday night in Seattle, suffering an 89-79 defeat to the Storm in front of 12,500 fans at Climate Pledge Arena.

With reigning WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player Jonquel Jones down with an ankle injury, All-Star guard Sabrina Ionescu sidelined by a stiff neck and Leonie Fiebich playing for Team Germany in EuroBasket, the shorthanded league champions dropped their second straight.

Jones re-tweaked a right-ankle sprain during last Thursday’s 89-81 defeat to Phoenix at Downtown’s Barclays Center, shelving her for at least a month.

Ionescu woke up with a “kink” in her neck, forcing the suddenly slumping Liberty (10-3) to open a four-game road trip without their second-leading scorer.

Fiebich has been missing for two weeks due to her overseas obligation, but New York was 9-0 regardless of who was missing in action before a 14-point loss in Indiana on June 14 cost it a chance to compete in a third consecutive Commissioner’s Cup championship game.

Things haven’t been quite the same since as the Liberty have dropped two lengths behind Minnesota (12-1) in the hunt for the WNBA’s best record.

Just don’t expect New York coach Sandy Brondello to make any excuses as this trip continues Wednesday at Golden State (7-6), especially with the Liberty boasting one of the league’s most decorated and deep rosters.

“Regardless of who was in or out, it was an opportunity for us to be better,” Brondello insisted. “We played really hard, compared to the last few games, for 40 minutes.

“We’re disappointed that we didn’t win it, but proud of the effort we had.”

Star forward Nneka Ogwumike poured in 26 points and Skylar Diggins added 20 for the Storm (9-5), who won their third straight and sixth in seven games.

Despite being down most of the night, the Liberty appeared to have a chance to steal this one in Seattle.

Natasha Cloud, who had a team-high eight assists but six of New York’s turnovers, made a driving layup to cut the deficit to 82-79 with under two minutes to play.

However, Ogwumike beat the shot clock on the Storm’s next trip, draining a 16-footer that made it a six-point lead with 1:30 to go. New York never scored again.

“Their defense was really pushing us. We were not in the right spot at the good time,” said New York guard Marine Johannes following her first start of the campaign.

“Credit to them, they have such great chemistry out there,” Brondello added.

Liberty coach Sandy Brondello hopes to point her shorthanded team out of its malaise as New York’s four-game road trip continues. AP Photo by Lindsey Wasson

The Liberty’s chemistry was more than a touch off as New York committed a season-high 21 turnovers, resulting in 22 points for Seattle, which finally got to hang a loss on former Storm legend Breanna Stewart.

A two-time Finals MVP in Seattle, Stewart had won her first seven meetings with the Storm since relocating to Downtown Brooklyn.

“Seattle has one of the best fan bases in the league. They’ve been supportive of me, during high periods and even now,” Stewart noted humbly.

Coming off a season-high 35-point effort against the Mercury, Stewart wasn’t quite as dominant in her old Emerald City digs, though she did lead New York with 18 points and nine rebounds to go with seven assists.

“Just continuing to keep our heads up,” Stewart said of New York’s recent malaise. “This is going to be the hardest thing that we face all season. … This is a great opportunity for everyone to gain experience.”

Johannes took advantage of her chance.

The French sharp-shooter knocked down each of her first seven field goals en route to a season-high 17 points, including a 3-pointer that drew a response from the Seattle bench.

“I was smiling because they were nice and not saying (crap),” Johannes jabbed at the postgame press conference of her exchange with the Storm reserves.

Nyara Sabally continued to fill in quite ably for Jones, who has logged just 34 minutes in two games since suffering the initial ankle injury at Washington on June 5.

The 6-foot-5 center had eight points, nine boards and two blocked shots.

Rebekah Gardner, another first-time starter, also filled up the scoresheet with nine of her 12 points coming in the first half.

“Bekah, it was great,” gushed Brondello. “We thought she could bring some really good energy for us. … That’s why she got the nod to start.”

Ionescu is listed as day-to-day and Fiebich is not expected back until early next month.

So the Liberty will continue to shuffle their lineups and expect better results.

“For the most part I thought we played really good team basketball. The turnovers are something we can work on,” Brondello said.

New York point guard Natasha Cloud committed six of the Liberty’s season-high 20 turnovers Sunday in Seattle. AP Photo by Lindsey Wasson

GIVE ME LIBERTY: Stewart moved into eight place on the franchise’s all-time rebounding list with 766, passing Kia Vaughn (763). … Johannes was the first Liberty player to hit seven straight shots to begin a game since Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, out for the season with a knee injury, did it on July 23, 2023. … Jaylyn Sherrod also got additional court time with the Liberty down several players, matching her career best with eight points. … After visiting the Valkyries in San Francisco, the Liberty will be in Phoenix on Friday and Atlanta Sunday. They will return to Barclays Center on July 3 to host the Los Angeles Sparks.