Sandy Brondello's 10-minute pregame press conference was dominated by questions about the Liberty's postseason readiness.
If a somewhat shaky end to the regular season was an ominous sign, it was one in which the top seed in the WNBA playoffs lost two of their final three games, including an 11-point loss to their opening-round opponent.
The Liberty coach made no guarantees but didn't seem worried at all.
“We're fortunate to have some guys that have been here before,” Brondello said, “so we've talked about that mentality and how hard it is. We've communicated, but we're relying on the guys that have been there.”
Her players were certainly prepared and had the league's best regular season performance — they scored eight of the first 10 points in Game 1, reached double figures just 6 minutes, 21 seconds into the game, and cruised to a comfortable 83-69 win over the Dream at Barclays Center on Sunday afternoon. The Liberty will return to Brooklyn on Tuesday night to close out the series.
Trailing by 18 at halftime, the Liberty never threatened after that – the closest the Dream got was down by 14 midway through the fourth quarter.
The outcome was never in doubt. The Liberty led by as many as 19 points in a one-sided first half. Their offense was crisp, their defense was suffocating. Best of all, they played with an intensity that was missing in their regular-season finale loss to the Dream.
They looked like a team that was going to keep playing for a while and get back to the WNBA Finals.
Sabrina Ionescu, who struggled against the Dream during the regular season, had 17 points and five assists, while Breanna Stewart had 20 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was Leonie Fiebic, who had been a part-time starter because of injuries but made her first start in place of Courtney VanderSloot when the Liberty had a full roster. The hard-shooting forward led Brondello in scoring with a game-high 21 points and four 3-pointers.
