Liberty Shell Shocked in New York, Lose to Storm 79-70

Seattle's defense held New York to 26 points in the second half.

(Brooklyn, New York) - The Seattle Storm (12-7) were ready for their early-morning matchup on Sunday against the New York Liberty (12-6). Despite a 10:00 AM local Seattle time tip-off, the Storm were ready to go blow for blow with the defending champions. Despite an incredible first-half performance by Sabrina Ionescu, Seattle fought hard through the first 20 minutes and only trailed the Liberty by three points. Then their defense put forth one of the most impressive quarters I’ve ever seen. Seattle limited New York to just six points in the third period and outscored them by 16 points. That allowed them to build a double-digit lead that they maintained throughout most of the 4th quarter. In the end, Seattle went into Brooklyn and handed the Liberty a 79-70 defeat. It was just their second loss at home this season in nine games.

Seattle won with a combination of incredible defense and balanced scoring. Five Storm players scored in double figures. Gabby Williams led the team in scoring with 16 points. She contributed in several ways, as she pulled down seven rebounds, dished out five assists, and had three steals. Her versatility was on full display, and it’s why she was named to her first WNBA All-Star team today. Williams got a little emotional after the game, talking about her All-Star nod and how she was thankful that this franchise had been so good to her and allowed her to grow and be herself.

Nneka Ogwumike added 15 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Ezi Magbegor had one of her best games of the season with 14 points, five rebounds, and two blocks. Skylar Diggins (also officially named to the All-Star team) finished with 13 points, a team-high six assists, and a game-high +17 in plus/minus. Lastly, Dominique Malonga left her mark all over this game, with a near-double-double of 11 points and eight rebounds in 10 minutes of action in the 2nd half.

The Storm outshot the Liberty 45% (32-71 FG) to 35% (24-68 FG). They had more assists (21-17), steals (11-7), and blocks (6-5). Seattle dominated down low, outscoring New York 44-28 with points in the paint. They also forced the Liberty into 17 turnovers and outscored NY by nine points (20-11) with points off turnovers. Seattle did a good job of protecting the ball, as they committed just 11 turnovers for the game.

With the win, Seattle has won the season series against New York as the Storm are now 2-0 against the Liberty this season, and they only play one more time against one another at the very end of the season (September 5th in Seattle). The two teams are now separated by just 1/2 game as the Liberty are 12-6 and the Storm are 12-7. If the two teams end up with the same record at the end of Game 44, Seattle will earn the higher seed in the standings.

New York Liberty

The Liberty were held in check for the most part, but Sabrina Ionescu still had an incredible game. She scored 20 of her 22 points in the first half. She finished with five made three-pointers, nine rebounds, six assists, and two steals. She had the raucous Brooklyn crowd going wild in the first half. Seattle’s defense clamped her down in the second half, limiting her to 1-10 FG and 0-5 FG from beyond the arc.

Natasha Cloud was the only other Liberty player to score in double figures. She finished with 12 points on 4-8 FG and 2-3 FG from long distance. Cloud did not play in the 4th quarter. I didn’t see it live, but I read that she took a hit to the face late in the third period.

Breanna Stewart had a very poor game for her standards. She finished with eight points on 4-17 FG. She missed all three of her three-point attempts. Stewie is shooting a career-low 19.6% from beyond the arc this season. A startling contrast to most of her career, where she has averaged in the high 30% area.

New York out-rebounded Seattle 36-35, but had a larger advantage in offensive rebounds (11-8). They outscored Seattle 14-10 in second-chance points. Their bench outscored Seattle’s reserves 17-16 with some late points in “garbage time” as they ended the game on an 8-0 run over the final three minutes after both coaches went to their benches.

Game Breakdown

Skylar found Nneka Ogwumike for the midrange shot to open the game. Kennedy Burke got past Ogwumike on a strong drive down the baseline. Natasha Cloud got open for a three-ball. Ezi Magbegor got to the rim with an assist from Erica Wheeler. Breanna Stewart collected an offensive rebound over Ogwumike and laid it back in. Gabby Williams made a beautiful pass over the defense to find Ogwumike down low for two to cut New York’s lead to two at 10-8.

The Liberty’s three-ball was working as they knocked down back-to-back triples from Sabrina Ionescu and Leonie Fiebich. Magbegor scored on a strong drive in between those three-pointers. Williams knocked down a pull-up jumper from outside. Gabby then got a big block against Ionescu that forced a 24-second shot clock violation.

Out of the TV timeout, Magbegor scored down low against the smaller Marine Johannès. The Liberty went cold, scoring just two points over the next four and a half minutes. That allowed the Storm to take the lead. Alysha Clark scored near the rim with a scoop layup. Diggins made a layup high off the backboard. After a Stewart score, AC hit a three-pointer up top. Seattle led 22-18 at the end of the first period.

New York jumped out to a 7-2 run to begin the second quarter. Rebekah Gardner played a big role in that with a couple of steals and scores. After a Gabby jumper, Ionescu buried a three-pointer. Erica Wheeler answered with a triple on the other end. Seattle got out in transition as Ezi found a trailing Skylar for the pull-up jumper near the foul line. Ionescu hit another three, and then found Gardner sprinting the floor for another layup.

Nneka responded with an AND1 down low. Magbegor was fouled a couple of times and made three out of four free throws. The Liberty kept hitting threes. Another pair from Ionescu and Natasha Cloud. Skylar was fouled by Cloud and made both free throws to cut the Liberty’s lead down to one at 38-37. Diggins made a layup down the baseline. Ionescu was fouled and made both free throws. Sabrina continued her torrid shooting as she hit her fourth three-pointer of the quarter and was fouled. She made the free throw to convert the rare 4-point play. Gabby Williams hit a deep two at the halftime buzzer. The Liberty led 44-41 at the midway point.

Sabrina Ionescu led all scorers in the first half with 20 points. New York made 5-5 FG from beyond the arc in the second quarter, while the Storm made just 1-7 FG. That allowed the Liberty to outscore Seattle 26-19. Skylar led the road team with 11 points through the first 20 minutes.

As New York did in the second period, the Storm responded in the third quarter with a 7-2 run of their own. Skylar got to the rim, Nneka made a pull-up jumper, and then Gabby hit a three-pointer in transition after Ogwumike stole a pass from Fiebich. Seattle retook a two-point lead, forcing Coach Sandy Brondello into a timeout.

The timeout didn’t help New York swing the tide. The Storm went on a 13-0 run to take a 56-46 lead. That was capped off by a steal by Ogwumike that led to a wide-open layup for Williams. Natasha Cloud scored on back-to-back possessions, first on a three-on-one fast break and then on a nice open deep two.

Dominique Malonga subbed into the game for the first time. She quickly made an impact, scoring down inside the paint, grabbing a couple of rebounds, and then drawing a foul.

Skylar then found Nneka down low open for two. Seattle’s defense forced the Liberty into a shot clock violation, and then Skylar fed it to Malonga, who scored off the backboard at the buzzer. The Storm outscored the Liberty 22-6 in the third period and led 63-50.

It continued to be the Dominique Malonga show to open up the fourth quarter. She was unstoppable down low, made shots difficult for New York on the defensive end, and grabbed several rebounds. She scored six points in a row to extend Seattle’s lead to 19 points at 71-52, forcing Brondello into another timeout.

This time, the Liberty responded well. They went on a 6-0 run quickly to cut their deficit down to 13. Ezi Magbegor stopped the bleeding with a nice midrange jumper. Magbegor was then fouled and made one of two free throws. Erica Wheeler then crossed over her opponent and got to the rim for two. Ionescu got to the rim for two.

Gabby Williams put the game away with a three-pointer to put the Storm ahead by 17 points with three minutes left to play. Both coaches took their starters out of the game. The Liberty’s reserves outscored Seattle’s 8-0 to end the game over the final few minutes. The final score was a lot closer than the actual end of the game should have been, but at that point, it didn’t matter. The Storm took care of business and beat the New York Liberty 79-70.

Final Box Score

Up Next

The Storm (12-7) travel to Connecticut to finish up their 4-game road trip against the Sun (2-15). They play at 8:00 AM on Wednesday, July 9th because…WHY? I assume that it’s Kids Day. Seattle will have had a very successful road trip if they come prepared and take care of business against Connecticut.

Part 2

Part 2 will include additional thoughts, quotes, and discussion from Sunday’s game against the New York Liberty. It’ll be sent exclusively to paid subscribers tomorrow morning.

Notes:
Thanks for all the great support! Please share my coverage with other WNBA fans. Please share, retweet, repost, etc., if you enjoy my articles.
Thanks to Her Hoop Stats and Across the Timeline for being great resources.
Photo Credits: Seattle Storm/WNBA Photography

Social Media:
Follow me on Bluesky (@wnbastormchasers.bsky.social)
Follow me on Threads (@WNBAStormChasers)
Follow me on X/Twitter (@WNBAStormChaser)