Rejuvenated Liberty beat down Lynx in post-FIBA break playoff push
MINNEAPOLIS — The WNBA playoffs technically don’t start until Sept.27.But if you asked Cheryl Reeve and others in the playoff field, they’ll tell you the postseason began after the FIBA Women’s World Cup break.
Amid a race for seeding, the stakes for these games over the final week of the season carry immense weight.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.
The Liberty know that.Teams that are hot from the jump will benefit.
There’s no time to shake off the rust.So what did the Liberty do?They marched into a raucous road environment at Target Center on Friday night, battled the league’s best team and walked out with a well-deserved 93-81 win to capture the regular-season series 3-1. Whenever the Liberty play the Lynx, the game seems to matter even more. The rivalry took on new life after the 2024 WNBA Finals, which the Liberty won in five games, but the Lynx were sour about the officiating down the stretch.Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu always seem to rise to the occasion.Entering Friday’s contest, Stewart averaged 26.5 points and Ionescu 21 across the first three meetings this year.The two led the charge Friday. Stewart finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds less than a week after she led Team USA to a gold-medal finish in Berlin.
She moved to ninth on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list on Friday.Meanwhile, Ionescu, who had been itching to play again after going an unprecedented 0-for-10 from the field in the final game before the break, recorded 17 points and six assists.She also went 3-for-9 from deep.Jonquel Jones added 18 points and 10 rebounds.It was a back-and-forth physical game. No team led by more than eight points entering the fourth.Nia Brodie (née Coffey, who got married over the break) drained a corner 3 to tie the game with 3:45 left in the third.Marine Johannès then caught fire.
She scored 10 straight points for New Yor...