New York Liberty set WNBA 3-point record, dominate Chicago Sky, 99-74

The Liberty said hello to Courtney Vandersloot, then pummeled her team into the ground.

As expected, pregame festivities Thursday featured many smiles and warm remarks, and then the New York Liberty went out and destroyed the Chicago Sky.

It was Chicago’s home-opener, the Liberty’s first road game, and the first time Courtney Vandersloot would see her former team since the championship parade last October.

The future Hall of Famer amicably returned to her former franchise this offseason in search of a larger (starting) role and the friendly confines of her old home.

Said Sloot of her time in New York: “There was a lot that happened in those two years. Very special things obviously, winning another championship. But you know, the things that we went through together as a group, the relationships we were able to build and find ways to win: Those are very special moments in my career, and I’ll remember those forever.”

Head Coach Sandy Brondello will too: “I love Sloot. Obviously, she’s one of the greatest point guards of all time … We’re just excited to see her, and hopefully we get to see the little bub and Allie and see the family.”

Brondello touched on the Liberty’s new look in 2025, gently hinting at what had become obvious over the second half of 2024, that the team is simply better with Leonie Fiebich in the starting lineup, and now, better with Natasha Cloud running the point.

That’s no slight to Sloot and neither is how much better the Liberty are than her new/old team. If not for a barrage of offensive rebounds, the Sky would have been down by 20 after the first quarter, unable to do anything in the way of shot-making. Anything…

Before the first media timeout on Thursday night, Jonquel Jones already had two blocks, and Breanna Stewart, who finished with three steals and two blocks, was similarly impossible to score around on the inside.

Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso comprise a physically imposing double-big front-court, but they were mauled by two of the best to ever do it in Jones and Stewie. Reese in particular had a brutal time, shooting 0-of-8 while getting blocked four times.

The Sky couldn’t score enough to take advantage of what amounted to 20 Liberty turnovers, a number that incensed Brondello: “I wasn’t happy at halftime. I wasn’t happy at all. I just thought we were all clunky, and regardless of the score, we didn’t have the pace and the urgency and the spacing that we need as we move forward.”

When New York corrected that, the competitive portion of the game quickly ended. Even after struggling in extended garbage time, they finished with 55/56(!)/94 shooting splits. No player reached 20 points, but everybody looked comfortable. By the end of the second quarter, the machine had smoothed out…

Especially encouraging was the play of the bench: Rebekah Gardner looked nothing like a 34-year-old coming off an achilles tear, zipping around the court to make winning plays on both ends. Though Marine Johannès scored just six points, she was frequently involved in New York’s best possessions…

Said Natasha Cloud: “We have, I think, some of the most unselfish franchise players, and that just trickles down once you have your top players starting that way. So we share the ball here and we like that.”

It was fitting, then, that Kennedy Burke shot 5-of-6 to score 17 points off the bench, and was the player who made WNBA history, hitting the Liberty’s 19th three of the game…

That is a new single-game WNBA record, but Burke didn’t seem too phased by it: “I got the ball, and I just shot it because I was wide open. So, you know, that’s my role on the team, just to shoot when I’m open and just to make big plays.

Thanks to rebounds and turnovers, the Sky ended up taking 11 more field-goals and eight more free-throws than their guests, and were still never close after halftime. At the very least, that gives New York something to clean up on a night where the outcome was never in doubt.

“A lot of areas we can get better at, obviously, I’m going to have joy because we won a game, but we’re nowhere near where we need to be on the offensive end,” said Brondello.

Only the head coach of this New York Liberty team, powered by one of the greatest double-big lineups of all-time and an overwhelming supporting cast, could say that on a night her team broke the single-game 3-point record and mean it. Better yet, she’s right!

Though the euphoria of ring night couldn’t be topped, New York’s road-opener went as well as it could. It even had the perfect epilogue…

Final Score: New York Liberty 99, Chicago Sky 74

Next Up

Photo by Michael Hickey/NBAE via Getty Images

The Liberty finish off their trip to the Midwest with a game in which they won’t have a 20-turnover margin-of-error. They’ll face Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, with tip-off scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon.

• Box Score: New York Liberty 99, Chicago Sky 74 – WNBA
• Liberty break single-game WNBA 3-pointers record, pass physicality test in blowout win over Sky – Madeleine Kenney – New York Post