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New York Liberty races back from 19-point deficit to beat Atlanta Dream behind Leonie Fiebich

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Atlanta Dream v New York Liberty

Never say never when Liberty as playing at Barclays Center

For a while Sunday, it looked like the New York Liberty, struggling with Jonquel Jones, were headed towards another loss vs. the Atlanta Dream. In a dreadful first half, they went down by 19 points. Sabrina Ionescu who along with Breanna Stewart, has been providing a lot of what the Libs were missing without JJ, made only one of 11 shots.

Looked bad, but then again, this game was being played at Barclays Center and in front of 17,265 wild ones, the WNBA’s loudest fans, who are not in the habit of giving up up or giving in. They’re all they got, all they need.

Slowly but surely, the defending champions ate away at the Dream lead. By half time, it was down to 11, 42-31, and that German phenom Leonie Fiebich decided it was time to shine .. again.

Fiebich hit consecutive 3-pointers near the end of the third quarter gave the New Yorkers the first lead since early in the game. Then up 60-58 early in the fourth she helped deliver the coup de grace, finishing with 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. She added four rebounds and four assists.

She of course was not alone. Not with Breanna Stewart on the court. Stewie, who learned this week that she’d earned her seventh WNBA All-Star berth, was go-to throughout the comeback, literally playing 1-through-5. She finished with 18 and 10, her fourth double double of the season.

“I wasn’t happy for the first half at all. We had four days off and we didn’t bring any kind of grit or energy. So it was like a reset for the second half,” coach Sandy Brondello said of the turnaround. “When we have to have discipline with executing the scout to the best of our ability, but we’re relentless. This is a group that stays together. We’re going to weather the storm. I don’t get too high or too low. At halftime, I said, ‘We’re winning this game.’ But we know what we can control so just go out and do that.”

In addition to the big contributions from Fiebich and Stewart, Kennedy Burke had five points during the burst and Nyara Sabally, filling in for Jones, hit a 3-pointer that made it 70-60 with five minutes left, spurring what was the biggest “loud noise” alert on mobile devices. Ionescu finished with nine points on 3-of-20 shooting, missing all seven of her 3-point attempts. She did add five assists. Natasha Could also had a tough night, shooting 1-of-5, but the Liberty who are also down Betnijah Laney-Hamilton for the season, is built not just on star power but the bench. In other words, the long haul.

A big positive for the team was its paint defense. The last time the Dream, which features a tall lineup anchored by Britney Griner, played the Liberty, they scored 62 points. Sabally and Izzy Harrison was not going to let that happen again.

“We know they’re going to get paint touches and their looks, but we just have to make it as difficult as we can,” said Harrison, who had nine points and six rebounds. “So when we did our review, we talked about meeting them early and just being physical. … We just wanted to have a more aggressive mindset on the bigs.”

Griner finished with 10 points and New York outscored Atlanta 38-32 underneath.

Big Ellie makes her presence known.

The precious pachyderm knows how to work big rooms, like Barclays, and small ones too, like the suite where the Financial Women’s Association of New York gathered 50 of its members for Sunday’s game…

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On a personal note, thanks to Big Ellie, as well as everyone else, from the Tsais to Keia Clarke, Liberty CEO, to the BSE Global staff for making the day, topped off by the big win, a great one.

Next Up?

The Liberty travel to Indianapolis on Wednesday for a big game vs. the Fever and Caitlin Clark. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. ET and will be nationally televised on CBS Sports. The Liberty is now 14-6 and atop the East while the 11-10 Fever, with Clark having missed 10 games, is fighting for a post-season slot.