Shorthanded Liberty's rut continues with sloppy loss to Storm

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5 days ago

An image collage containing 1 images, Image 1 shows Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty dribbling the basketball
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SEATTLE — Sandy Brondello had mixed feelings about the Liberty's 89-79 loss Sunday.
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One one hand, she was let down by the fact the Liberty let a winnable game slip through their fingertips.
New York committed a season-high 21 turnovers, which the Storm converted into 22 points. The Liberty also missed too many layups.
On the other, she was pleased with the team's effort through the final horn considering it was down three starters, including Sabrina Ionescu, who woke up with a kink in her neck Sunday morning.
'Regardless of who was in or out, [Sunday] was an opportunity for us to be better and I thought we played really hard compared to the last few games,' Brondello said. 'We played really hard for 40 minutes. Was it perfect? No. But we were right there. We're persistent.
Breanna Stewart dribbles during the Liberty-Storm game on June 22, 2025. NBAE via Getty Images
'We're disappointed that we didn't win it, but still proud of the effort they had.'
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The Liberty managed to hang around the Storm all game. They were down by one at halftime and trailed by as many as 10 in the fourth quarter. New York trimmed the deficit to three twice in the final 2:20 but never mustered a big enough run to take the game over.
It was the Liberty's third loss in four games, dropping them to 10-3.
After the game, the Liberty weren't nearly as dejected as they were after Thursday's loss against the Mercury.
The post-game messaging inside the Liberty locker room was more encouraging than critical Sunday.
Breanna Stewart told her teammates 'to keep our heads up.
Nneka Ogwumike looks on during the Storm-Liberty game on June 22, 2025. NBAE via Getty Images
'This isn't going to be the hardest thing that we face all season,' she said. 'We have to kind of embrace the adversity a little bit, whether it's we're down players or things happen in the middle of the game.'
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Stewart finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Marine Johannès — who made her first seven shots — added 17 points and five rebounds. And Rebekah Gardner posted a season-high 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Meanwhile, Nneka Ogwumike had a game-high 26 points for Seattle.
With the Liberty down to nine active players, Brondello had to get creative with the lineups.
Gardner got her first start with the Liberty. Johannès started in place of Ionescu and Nyara Sabally for Jonquel Jones.
Some of the miscues were because of the lineup changes.
The Liberty also would've probably guarded Skylar Diggins differently had LeonieFiebich been here. Diggins had 20 points and six assists.
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Stewart thinks this is a good time to experiment.
'Getting a good gel with the group that we have right now is important for later because you never know what's going to happen, especially as you make playoff pushes or things like that,' she said. 'This is a great opportunity for everyone to kind of gain experience and bigger roles and putting more on the plate.'
The Liberty are 'hopeful' that Ionescu will be available for Wednesday's game at Golden State.
Brondello described Ionescu's status as 'day to day.'
Overall, though, Brondello isn't mad about how the Liberty played Sunday.
'We know we're down three starters,' she said. 'We're the underdogs at the moment but we competed and we nearly had the chance to win.'
Brondello can live with that.