Liberty Starter on Defense, Stopping Angel Reese

When it came to an extension of Angel Reese’s historic double-double streak, KB and her New York Liberty compatriots declared “n-o.”

Kennedy Burke and her metropolitan teammates restricted the rookie Reese to eight points and 10 rebounds when the Liberty did battle with the Chicago Sky last Saturday at Wintrust Arena. The relative shutdown created one of the more viral moments of the WNBA’s first half.

Despite some early misses and a one-sided score, Reese had one more chance to land her WNBA-record-extending 16th consecutive double-double on one final Chicago possession with time expiring.

As Reese drove to the basket, Burke restricted her to the boundary before two seafoam-branded teammates, Jonquel Jones and Kayla Thornton, offered help. With Sabrina Ionescu providing backup, Reese was unable to get off a proper shot attempt, tossing the ball away from Burke and her reinforcements. The other Chicagoans let the clock run out, allowing the Liberty to walk off with an 81-67 victory and the severing of the Reese streak.

“We were just working until the end of the game and we didn’t want her to score,” Burke said when the Liberty returned to Brooklyn for a Tuesday game against the Connecticut Sun. “We’re just playing defense, I didn’t know there was four people around her. I think, in that whole game, we were able to be a defensive threat. In that moment, that’s what we did.”

Burke was an unexpected starter for the Liberty’s final two games before the WNBA’s All-Star/Olympic break, replacing a resting Breanna Stewart. Head coach Sandy Brondello remarked that Burke, formerly Stewart’s teammate in Seattle, was a natural fit for the role as the team’s backup four after Saturday’s win, but the 27-year-old continued to vindicate that decision on Tuesday against the Sun.

Granted a chance to build further distance in the race for the WNBA’s top seed (made all the more vital after Connecticut picked up Marina Mabrey less than 24 hours after the game), the Liberty enjoyed Burke’s continued support with nine rebounds and four steals.

Of note, Burke swiped one from Dijonai Carrington toward the end of the third quarter and did the rest herself, creating a fastbreak that broke a 61-all tie as well as a seven-minute field goal drought. Though Connecticut reknotted the game before the period let out, further collaboration between Burke and Ionescu permanently shifted momentum.

Another Burke steal (tipping a Veronica Burton pass) became an assist for Ionescu’s sixth triple of the night. Ionescu then turned her rebound into another speedy Burke opportunity, and her cashing in gave the Liberty a permanent lead, setting the tone for a 19-11 metropolitan advantage in the final period.

“KB anticipates so well,” Brondello said after Tuesday’s win. “She got those steals, she’s a good heads up player in the transition phase just finding the open and plays it for others, if not herself. I’m just happy for her because I think she gets more and more comfortable with what we’re doing here, just going out there and playing her game and has been really big for us these last two games.”

“I just felt like I had to bring energy, no matter what,” Burke said of her starting five insertions. “Obviously I didn’t score a lot of points but I feel like I was effective on other areas. On the defensive end, I was able to be effective in the post, so I hope to keep doing the same thing … We knew that players were down so other players had to step up. That’s what we did.”

Over the last two games before the break, Burke ranked sixth among all WNBA starting women in defensive rating over her respective last two games (89.4). She’s one of three New Yorkers in the top 10, as Leonie Fiebich (86.1) and Jones (91.7) ranked third and ninth respectively, a stat made all the more impressive with the knowledge that top defenders Stewart and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton were both out for the last couple.

Burke’s efforts have many crediting the Liberty for evolving from last season’s group, which fell two wins short of the franchise’s first WNBA championship. Her efforts, as well as those of fellow reserves like Fiebich, Thornton, Ivana Dojkic, and Nyara Sabally, could be the difference in earning that last couple, as noted by ESPN analyst and Liberty legend Rebecca Lobo.

“Kennedy Burke has been very impressive to me, especially without Laney-Hamilton in the lineup,” Lobo said. “They’re going to need those pieces. Once they get the lineup back intact, they’re going to need those bench pieces, especially in the playoffs, and if they’re going to be facing, in particular, the (defending champion) Las Vegas Aces.”

Burke will return to action when the Liberty reconvenes on Aug. 15 in Southern California, as the UCLA alumna will face off against the Los Angeles Sparks (9 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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