Libertys season comes to crushing end as theyre swept out of WNBA semifinals by Dream
Turns out, the entire era of Liberty basketball might need a reset timeout. A season that began with such high hopes of returning to the top of the WNBA ended with a sweep-sealing 85-83 Game 3 loss to the Atlanta Dream on Friday night in front of a disappointed capacity crowd at Barclays Center. Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.If this was the last stand of this Liberty golden age — heralded by Breanna Stewart’s arrival in 2023 and notarized by a first championship in 2024 — they went down swinging. The Liberty were outmuscled and outquicked by a determined opponent with its own prime-aged stars making its leap into the WNBA’s elite — where the Liberty were, circa three years ago. After a Game 2 loss that will be remembered for the Liberty bizarrely not using a reset timeout that was in their pocket before their final possession, Game 3 was a more straightforward kind of nail-biter. The Liberty flipped the script from Game 1 — when the Dream cranked up the defense to pull away in the third quarter — by finding another level of intensity after halftime. The Liberty led 71-66 early in the fourth quarter then went more than five minutes without scoring during a 9-0 Dream run.
Their deficit was 81-75 after DeWanna Bonner sank three free throws with 3:15 left. Jonquel Jones made a layup in traffic.Stewart made a pair of free throws then drew a charge on Angel Reese to get the ball back.
Leonie Fiebich’s bid for a go-ahead 3-pointer rimmed out, and Jordin Canada squeezed in a tough layup to restore the Dream’s four-point lead with 1:15 left. Then Jones scored on a post move.The Liberty got the stop they desperately needed, but Sabrina Ionescu committed a disastrous turnover (shades of Game 2 overtime there) — only for Fiebich to steal it back. Sign up for Madeline Kenney's Inside the Liberty, a weekly Sports+ newsletter.
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