Marine Johannes shot crazy for Liberty with career-best effort

While most fans headed toward the exit following the Liberty’s 40-point win against the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday, the dozens who stayed behind showered Marine Johannes with hero worship after she wrapped up a postgame TV interview and headed to the locker room.Johannes flashed a sheepish grin as she exchanged a few high-fives on her way off the floor after setting a new career high in points with 27.Johannes helped carry the Liberty to Sunday’s comfortable 111-71 win.She lit it up during a monstrous fourth quarter, going 4-for-7 from beyond the arc for 12 points.

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.She tied her career high in 3-point makes, shooting 7-for-12 from deep.“She shot crazy today,” Han Xu said of Johannes after the win.

“I’m so proud of her.I know she’s an amazing player.

Everybody knows, she just show herself today.”Johannes was due for a big day like Sunday.She hadn’t looked quite like herself after missing three games with a left ankle injury last month.

She had scored only a combined 11 points across the preceding four games, shooting 3-for-8 from deep.After Sunday’s win, though, Johannes relished the team’s success rather than her own.“It just feels good, knowing that [the Aces] were missing players, we had to stay ready, and we had to stay focused,” she said.“It’s just sharing the ball, playing with confidence and so yeah, I think we did a good job tonight as a team.”Aces coach Becky Hammon called out the cadence of her team’s schedule amid a particularly grueling stretch of three games in four days.Sunday’s nationally televised matinee started less than 24 hours after the Aces played the Lynx in Minnesota.

As a result, Hammon decided to rest her star players A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young.“Everybody has a brutal schedule at some point,” Hammon said.“We’re going to always err on the...