The New York Liberty were playing their third road game this week. The Minnesota Lynx were playing their first game this week.
And it showed Saturday — well, only at first.
The Liberty scored just 12 points in the first quarter — their fewest to open a game this year — and didn't make a single 3-pointer in the frame.
Three minutes into the second quarter, the Lynx boasted a 15-point advantage. That's when Sandy Brondello's injury-riddled and battle-tested New York squad rallied, eventually taking a lead that it juggled throughout the second half.
But the Liberty ultimately didn't have enough in the tank to hold off the top team in the league, a Lynx group continuing to avenge its WNBA Finals defeat and now two victories away from matching the franchise single-season wins record it set last year.
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After starting a mere 2-of-13 from the field, including 1-of-6 from deep, Kayla McBride dropped a 29-foot 3-pointer with 31.9 seconds remaining to effectively seal the deal. McBride, who uncharacteristically missed four free throws, made enough to help ice an 86-80 win at the charity stripe.
New York (21-13), still stuck in a scrum for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, is now 0-3 against the Lynx this season after beating them in five games for the 2024 WNBA championship.
Minnesota (28-5) improved to 17-1 at home and hasn't lost a game this month. During that stretch, the Lynx are 4-0 without the W's leading scorer in the lineup.
Napheesa Collier, a top candidate for the league's MVP honor this year, was sidelined for the fourth game in a row as she continues to recover from a sprained right ankle. In her absence, fellow All-Star Courtney Williams stepped up with a season-high 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting, plus five assists.
"Honestly, we down Phee," Williams told CBS in her on-court postgame interview. "So, like I always say, somebody got to give a little bit more. We all got to give a little bit more. So when I'm feeling it, it's a problem."
The Liberty were missing three key pieces of their frontcourt: Nyara Sabally, Isabelle Harrison and, most importantly, two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart.
Stewart, currently nursing a knee injury, hasn't played since July 26. She's missed 10 consecutive games, and the Liberty are just 4-6 in that span.
Despite not making a 3-pointer in the first quarter, New York finished with 11 on the day. Five different Liberty players made a pair of triples, and they all scored in double figures. That group included Kennedy Burke and Marine Johannès, who added 11 and 12 points off the bench, respectively.
Liberty center Jonquel Jones, last year's WNBA Finals MVP, led the team with 17 points and polished off a 16-0 New York run that started cutting into a double-digit, first-quarter deficit and then created a second-quarter lead.
From that point forward, the Liberty and Lynx traded blows.
While Williams carried an offensive load with her jumpshot, she and others consistently located Jesscia Shepard and Alanna Smith in the paint down the stretch. Those two combined for 31 points and 17 rebounds.
"I think when I knock down a couple shots, that big got to step up," Williams told CBS. "And when they step up, I got my bigs that I know can finish down low."
New York won't have to wait long for another chance at Minnesota. The Liberty will host the Lynx on Tuesday, the WNBA heavyweights' final regular-season matchup this year.
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