The players-only meeting that completely turned Libertys season around

INDIANAPOLIS — The Liberty suffered their most deflating loss of the season less than four weeks ago at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Fever torched New York with an 18-2 third-quarter run and never looked back en route to a 20-point blowout, dropping the Liberty to a 13-12 record.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.That felt like rock bottom, and Breanna Stewart decided to stop holding back. In the immediate aftermath, the Liberty held a players-only meeting in the visitors locker room, Stewart said. It was a look-in-the-mirror type moment. The Liberty could do one of two things: sit there and feel sorry for themselves or decide enough was enough. “We had one in the locker room with just the players of really locking in and remembering what got you here,” Stewart said.

“Because I think sometimes when you’re trying to do everything that the coaches want or trying to play perfectly, it becomes a little bit robotic and it was more so like play your game.That was the message to the players.” Too often for the first half of the season, the Liberty were trying to figure things out individually rather than as a collective.

It felt like they continued to put Band-Aids on bullet holes hoping for different results. Injuries and poor officiating had too often been used as a crutch for the team’s issues. They needed to come together. After the news conference, Stewart and first-year coach Chris DeMarco had a lengthy conversation in the hallway.It wasn’t unusual to see them speak; they often talk after difficult losses. “We probably were just talking about staying the course,” Stewart said, “which I absolutely am gonna continue to stay the course.” There was another notable meeting after film the next day, too. In her 10th WNBA season, Stewart is being tested in ways she didn’t anticipate.

She’s been challenged as a leader as the t...