Liberty Season Ends Despite Breanna Stewart Takeover

It got cold in the desert at the worst possible time for the New York Liberty.

Despite a heroic effort from an ailing Breanna Stewart, excessive misfires from deep ended the Liberty's first postseason championship defense, as the Phoenix Mercury took the third and final game of an opening round set by a 79-73 final to procure advancement to the WNBA's final four.

Dealing with an MCL sprain, Stewart put up a masterful 30-point, nine-rebound showing that kept New York afloat despite trailing by 12 early. Sabrina Ionescu had 20 after a tepid debut period, but Jonquel Jones, the defending WNBA Finals MVP and third member of the prime seafoam triumvirate, was 1-of-10 from the field, part of a New York contingent that sank only seven field goals beyond the aforementioned duo.

Missing all but one of their final 18 attempts from three-point range will force the Liberty to watch the rest of the playoffs from home, as they endured their first opening round elimination since 2022. Phoenix now takes on the top-ranked Minnesota Lynx, the team the Liberty downed for their first postseason triumph last season, in a semifinal set that gets underway later this weekend.