The short-handed New York Liberty, led by 24 points from Breanna Stewart, earned an 84-76 victory in Seattle on Friday, preventing the Storm from clinching a spot in the WNBA playoffs.
New York coach Sandy Brondello had an impact on the game late with two successful challenges on calls against the Liberty (25-17). One was a foul called on Stewart, who extended her arm and made contact with Seattle’s Erica Wheeler. The referees turned around with 46.8 seconds remaining and the Liberty ahead 78-74.
Stewart went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line on the Liberty’s next three possessions to seal the win.
New York star Sabrina Ionescu practiced Friday but missed her fourth game in a row with a toe injury. Despite the Liberty missing their player points and assists leader, deep shooting by Leonie Fiebich helped compensate. Fiebich went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc and scored a career-high-tying 21 points.
Stewart made big defensive plays in the fourth quarter, including a block on Nneka Ogwumike and a stripped ball from Ezi Magbegor to slow down the Storm (22-21). The home side battled back, but New York survived off an 8-2 Seattle run in the fourth to pick up the victory.
Kennedy Burke scored 13 points off the Liberty bench, and Natasha Cloud added 10 points.
Ogwumike logged 20 points and nine rebounds, Skylar Diggins scored 14, Wheeler had 12 and Brittney Sykes put up 11 for the Storm. However, the Storm shot just 20 percent (4-for-20) from 3-point range.
Absent for much of the game was New York’s Jonquel Jones, who played only 17:38 due to foul trouble. The center left in the first minute of the third quarter when she picked up her fourth foul and then in the first two minutes of the fourth when she picked up her fifth.
Regardless, the Liberty reduced an eight-point halftime deficit to one at the end of the third through consistently strong defense. New York held the Storm to 13 points on 5-of-17 shooting in the third quarter after allowing 31 points in the second quarter.
Despite Seattle’s defeat, a win for the Storm in their final game of the season, or a Los Angeles Sparks loss, would send Seattle into the postseason.
The fifth-place Liberty, who previously clinched a playoff berth, hold a one-game lead on the sixth-place Golden State Valkyries.
–Field Level Media
