Liberty silence pro-Fever crowd in Brooklyn with statement win
New York Post · RC · trust 27/100
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Add The New York Post on Google The Liberty’s 109-102 win against the Indiana Fever on Saturday wasn’t just another regular-season victory.
Amid a season in which there have been continuous questions about the Liberty’s ceiling, New York proved it can not only hang with the best, but beat them.
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“It’s big, especially for us as a group,” Rebecca Allen said. “Is it a statement to the league? I think it was more something for ourselves.”
Saturday not only had standings implications in a tight race for playoff seeding, but it was also a chance to send a message.
At least that was the talk out of practice Friday.
But there seemed to be a deeper layer to Saturday’s marquee matchup against the Fever.
The Liberty’s pride was on the line, especially after Indiana beat them in each of their past two meetings.
The Liberty, playing on national television and in front of a sold-out Barclays Center crowd, almost lost it late. But they ultimately held off a late Fever push for the win.
“I wouldn’t say we needed it, but it definitely felt good to get it tonight,” said Jonquel Jones, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds. “I think we’ve had really tough matchups with them and they’ve been able to kind of have our number in the previous matchups so for us to be able to come in tonight and really kind of set the tone and I think really put a great 40 minutes together.”
The Fever-Liberty matchup, billed as the greatest game of the weekend, lived up to the hype.
The Liberty led the entire second half, but the Fever never backed down.
“It was fun,” Allen said. “It was a good atmosphere. You got a lot of fans from both teams there, too, so you felt like there was that battle going on and it was a close game. … Both teams, we had our pushes and then we had to sort of constantly weather them.”
That included in the fourth quarter when a 7-0 Fever run led by Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark cut the Liberty’s lead to one point with 4:08 left in the fourth.
A Sophie Cunningham steal led to a Mitchell 3-pointer that tied the game at 100 apiece with under two minutes left, though the Liberty ultimately regained the lead for good.
Barclays Center started to fill up well before tipoff.
Aside from the gray court with seafoam accents, one would have thought this was a Fever home game during warmups.
On the Liberty end, a modest number of fans gathered in the lower rows to try to snag autographs.
On the other end, though, was triple the number of spectators. Iowa and Fever jerseys hung over the railings, with fans eager to get autographs.
One fan said she flew from Spain to watch Clark play. Another young fan in Fever gear held a sign that said she drove 901 miles for the game.
But this was the Liberty’s house. And the team — as close to full strength as it had been in seven weeks with Leonie Fiebich and Jones back — wasn’t going to get embarrassed on its home floor.
“I mean [the Fever fans] weren’t loud for very long,” said Sabrina Ionescu, who had a quiet night with 12 points, four assists and five turnovers. “I’m happy our cheers overpowered their cheers, but that’s something that we knew.”
New York looked nothing like the team that got embarrassed in Indiana twice this season.
Liberty fans should savor this win. Maybe it even absolves a few of the bad losses New York suffered when Fiebich was out.
The Fever are legitimate title contenders. If New York can build off Saturday’s victory, the Liberty are, too.
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