The New York Liberty continue their homestand tonight and take on a tough Phoenix Mercury team.
The party keeps on rocking. The New York Liberty returned to action following the All-Star break and took on the Indiana Fever. New York pulled away in the second half on the way to their fourth straight victory.
The opponent tonight is one of the biggest surprises of the WNBA season. The Phoenix Mercury have been outstanding and have a great chance of securing homecourt advantage in the early rounds of the playoffs. They didn’t help their cause after losing to the Atlanta Dream at home on Wednesday night.
Where to follow the game
ION is the place to be. Tip after 7:30 PM.
Injuries
Nyara Sabally is out for rest.
Nothing doing for Phoenix.
The game
Phoenix won the first and second meetings.
It’s hard to get a feel for how these two teams will matchup against each other. The Liberty did not have Jonquel Jones and Leonie Fiebich for both meetings, so we’ll see how they do against an elite club like Phoenix.
It’ll start with three point defense. Phoenix is second in threes attempted and fourth in efficiency. The Liberty are fourth in attempts and first in efficiency. Whoever is able to chase the other team off of the three point line and into tough jumpers will be able to control the flow of this game.
With this being the first leg of a back-to-back, we’ll see how Sandy Brondello uses Jonquel Jones. It took JJ a half to get back to her usual self as she got very close to a double-double. Jonquel told us in postgame that her conditioning’s at an eight out of ten, so she’s gradually getting back to the full time version of her superstar self. She played 22 minutes on Tuesday and figures to be around that same mark tonight.
On the other side stands a player who has a darn good chance of capturing the Most Valuable Player award. Alyssa Thomas has been sensational in her debut season with the Mercury and has held things down while Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper were out with injury. AT is a triple-double threat every time she steps foot on the court and has given the Liberty trouble in both matchups this season. Even without Nyara Sabally tonight, the Liberty have plenty of frontcourt depth that can make things a bit tough on the Phoenix star.
Player to watch: DeWanna Bonner
It’s been an interesting 2025 for Bonner. She began this season as a free agent after leaving the Connecticut Sun. DB went to the Indiana Fever and was expected to be a key contributor on a title contender. It didn’t go according to plan and she was eventually waived by the team. She returned to her original WNBA team and things have been a million percent better. In three games with the Mercury, she has .538/.588/.727 shooting splits.
To say Leonie Fiebich has been on a roll over the past two weeks would be a tremendous understatement. Over the last four games, Leo is averaging 15.8 points on .697/.600/.889 shooting splits. Sheesh! The team has encouraged Fiebich to be aggressive on offense and she’s paid their confidence off. For as good as she is on offense, her focus remains on making the Liberty the best defensive team they can be. Against the Fever on Tuesday night, they were able to shut off their drives after halftime and be a lot more physical with them. Against a tremendous Phoenix offense, they’ll need to replicate that if they want to finally get a W against this squad.
From the Vault
Ones in the air for Ozzy Osbourne
And despite his worst efforts, we’ll (briefly) put a one in the air for Hulk Hogan
More reading: Desert Wave Media, GO PHNX, AZ Central, Swish Appeal, Breakaway, SB Nation, Women’s Basketball Roundup, The Strickland, The Local W, New York Daily News, No Cap Space, New York Post, The Athletic, NY Liberty Fan TV, Yahoo Sports, Gotta Get Up, Sports Illustrated, Fansided, Just Women’s Sports, Winsidr, Her Hoop Stats, CBS Sports, and The Next