Stewart, Liberty Flush Fever Despite Clark Improvement

BROOKLYN-Those gathered at Barclays Center to witness Caitlin Clark’s maiden metropolitan voyage against the New York Liberty got everything they wanted and then some on Saturday afternoon at Barclays Center.

Clark put forth the best game of her infantile career but it was no match for the efforts of the Liberty’s assembly of All-Stars, as all five starters reached double-figures in a 91-80 victory over the Indiana Fever.

“Even though Caitlin got some looks tonight, I still think we made it hard for her as much as we could,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said. “These players know how to play with each other in the system that we have. That’s a luxury that we have. How do we continue to grow on that? I think that’s our focus here.”

Jonquel Jones had a double-double for New York with 14 points and 12 rebounds while Breanna Stewart led the team in scoring with 24, rendering Clark’s 22-point game (setting her infantile career-best) mostly null despite also adding seven assists and six rebounds in defeat.

In the sweep of an early back-to-back with the Fever, New York (3-0) rediscovered its outside game to the tune of 15 three-pointers after earning only eight in Thursday’s win in Indianapolis. After going 8-of-27 from deep at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, New York hit 12-of-18 in the first half and made WNBA history in the process: each New Yorker in the starting five (Jones, Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Courtney Vandersloot) hit at least two three-pointers, becoming the first WNBA team to boast such a result.

“For us, it was about getting stops and then pushing in transition,” Ionescu said about the newfound three-point success on Saturday. “A lot of our open threes were about getting the rebound, getting the ball up the floor pushing. When you have so many players making shots, it just opens up the floor up for everyone else because you can’t single out one particular player.”

Despite Clark scoring 10 points in the opening period (contributing to 12 of the Fever’s first 17 tallies overall), the Liberty jumped out to an early lead that they’d never relinquish. A Clark triple created a 14-13 lead with just about four minutes gone by but consecutive threes from Jones and Vandersloot created the permanent lead. The advantage inflated to 20 by halftime, allowing New York to offer its reserves some extra time.

“Their game plan was trying to push pace as much as they could,” Stewart said, speaking of a 28-2 advantage in fast break points. “We like that. We tried to run as much as we could. There’s a fine line of making sure when things are getting crazy and no team is converting, walking it up and running a good play, making sure we’re running as quickly as possible but also that we’re keeping pride in running those plays and getting what we want.”

The Liberty, having won each of their first three games for the first time since 2021, continue a three-game homestand on Monday night when the Seattle Storm visits (7 p.m. ET, WWOR).

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