The Valkyries had just played Wednesday night in Connecticut, while the Liberty had four days off between games.
But if you didn’t know any better, you would’ve thought New York was the one playing the back-to-back in Thursday’s 79-60 loss to Golden State.
The Liberty knew they were facing a tall task in the Valkyries’ league-best defense. Sabrina Ionescu even acknowledged at practice Wednesday that the game would be a major stress test for the Liberty’s offense.
And New York failed miserably as the Valkyries held the Liberty to their lowest scoring output of the season.
“I feel disappointed with this one and a little bit embarrassed as well,” Rebecca Allen said after the loss. “I just don’t think that we should ever lose like that on home court.”
Coach Chris DeMarco waved the white flag with 3:13 left and New York down 17, subbing off all the starters except Pauline Astier.
The frustration with the Liberty’s poor play started to bubble to the surface in the fourth, with Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart jawing with officials.
Jones’ foul that sent Veronica Burton to the floor was reviewed for a possible upgrade, though it was upheld as a common foul.
the Valkyries. Michelle Farsi for NY Post
With the loss, the Liberty were swept by the Valkyries in the regular-season series. Not only is Golden State the only team New York hasn’t beaten this season, but the Valkyries are also responsible for the Liberty’s three lowest scoring games of the season.
Allen thought the Liberty played hard and “with intent” but “just didn’t find a way” on this night.
Of course, it doesn’t help that the Liberty shot a season-low 30.2 percent from the field.
“It was definitely a disappointing one because I feel like today was a bit of a step backwards,” Allen said.
The Liberty moved the ball well in the first quarter and trailed by only two entering the second. Then, the offense got stagnant, and the Valkyries got hot.
Cecelia Zandalasini went 3-for-4 from deep in the second quarter to aid in the Valkyries outscoring the Liberty 21-11. New York trailed 42-30 at halftime.
In order to beat a team like the Valkyries, who thrive on elite defense, physicality and rebounding, a team has to beat them at their own game.
When New York’s shots weren’t falling, the Liberty needed to tighten up their defense, grab rebounds and limit second-chance points. Getting to the free-throw line would help, too.
That didn’t happen enough.
The Valkyries opened the fourth quarter with six unanswered points, building their lead to 18.
The Liberty had no answers and frustration followed.
Stewart said she thought the Liberty overall generated good looks from 3, but the shots didn’t fall. New York went 7-for-31 from deep. Sabrina Ionescu went 1-for-9 from behind the arc and Leonie Fiebich 1-for-6.
“With a team like this with the physicality and just really making it tough, after awhile that can make it really hard,” Stewart said. “And I think that we gave the effort and energy that we wanted but we got to knock down some shots, so we got to find an easier way to score.”
With the playoffs around the corner, Thursday’s showing didn’t instill much confidence in the Liberty’s ceiling. After all, there’s a good chance the Liberty might have to go through the Valkyries in order to reach the WNBA Finals.
Right now, it’s clear Golden State has the edge on New York.
“Progress is not a linear line,” Rebekah Gardner said. “It can sometimes go up and down and today was obviously not our best day… We definitely need to sit and watch this film and it’s good that it happened now before the playoffs so we can learn from it. Obviously, the game didn’t go how we would like it to go but if we learn from it, we’ll be better moving forward.”
