Liberty confident they are continuing to shore up defense

The sentiment immediately after the Liberty’s 109-102 win against the Indiana Fever on Saturday was that New York had a strong defensive showing.That might read like a typo.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.

A team surrendered 102 points and still felt good about its defensive performance?Three days later, after reviewing the film, New York remains steadfast in believing its defense has made real strides after facing the league’s best offense for the second time this month.Breanna Stewart compared the Liberty’s most recent win with their Aug.11 loss in Indiana.“The step-in-the-right-direction things were just our communication,” Stewart said after Tuesday’s practice.

“We were able to kind of finish possession.Yeah, they scored 100 still, but I don’t know, I felt good that for the most part we limited them to one shot and were able to get in transition.”Stewart isn’t the only one who feels this way.Jonquel Jones and Marine Fauthoux also believe the team’s defense is trending in the right direction after a rocky few weeks.Of course, it helps that Leonie Fiebich, the team’s best perimeter defender, is finally back in the mix after missing 16 consecutive games with a left foot injury.But Fauthoux also believes there’s more to it.

She credited the team’s familiarity with one another and better understanding of schemes and tendencies for contributing to the defensive improvements.“The chemistry between us is better on the court,” Fauthoux said.“It’s more we act together now, and everybody is on the same page.”Yet, there’s still plenty of room for growth.Jones was reminded of that as she watched the Golden State Valkyries beat the Minnesota Lynx on Monday.Most of that game was a rock fight between the league’s top two defenses.

Neither team eclipsed 50 points until late in the third quarter.The Valkyries, who come to Br...