Liberty snag key road win over Dream in one of biggest wins of season

ATLANTA — The Liberty on Thursday passed their biggest test yet, beating the Atlanta Dream 104-90 in what was arguably New York’s best showing of the season. The Liberty have been building toward what they did Thursday.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.

New York won the battle of the boards 40-24 against the league’s best rebounding team.The Dream tended to suppress teams from the perimeter, but the Liberty sank 16-of-31 attempts from beyond the arc.The Liberty have been tested multiple times already this season.

A three-game home losing skid had Breanna Stewart & Co.steaming with frustration.

They knew learning a new system was going to take time, but Stewart said she didn’t expect the team to face the early-season adversity it had.The entire time, though, first-year coach Chris DeMarco has been preaching patience as he’s worked with fluctuating lineups with players being in and out.New York is still without Sabrina Ionescu, who missed her seventh consecutive game because of a sore back. But the Liberty turned things around to close their longest homestand this season with four consecutive wins.

They took the show on the road, beating Connecticut Monday before outlasting the Dream Thursday. The Liberty’s offense looked in sync, making the right movements and finding the open player.Defensively, New York exploited the Dream’s nonshooters and dared Naz Hillmon and Angel Reese to shoot. The Liberty made the Dream’s life difficult all night. It was a weird, choppy first half.

Several lengthy reviews had the game on pause for minutes. The Dream went on a 10-2 run to start the second quarter to take a six-point lead, resulting in DeMarco calling a timeout. The Liberty climbed out of the hole.Stewart fed Jonquel Jones for the go-ahead 3. New York committed seven turnovers in the second quarter alone, but still managed to take a 51-...