Brooklyn, NY—The New York Liberty boost their record to 7-2 after a commanding 104-68 victory over the Indiana Fever on Sunday night in front of a sell-out crowd of 17,401.
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton led the charge with a stellar 20-point performance, supported by Jonquel Jone’s double-double of 18 points and 13 boards. The Liberty set the tone early in the game and never looked back.
“I think collectively as a team, we understand who kind of the head of the monster is on that team and we are trying to just make everything tough and difficult,” Liberty Sabrina Ionescu said. “Obviously, they came off a back-to-back, so it’s a little bit tough for them as well. But she’ll figure it out. It’s not that big of a deal to have a game like that.”
The Fever have endured a grueling beginning to the season, facing 11 games in the initial 20 days, with three match-ups against New York already.
Indiana was led by Kelsey Mitchell’s 21 points struggled to keep pace with New York’s relentless offense. Despite a spirited effort in the third, they couldn’t bridge the gap, ending the game trailing by thirty.
The Libs dominated early, seizing a commanding 31-12 lead in the first quarter fueled by Briana Stewart and Bejani Laney-Hamilton leading the way with seven points apiece. The Fever looked fatigued after coming off a 71-70 victory over the Chicago Sky.
Caitlin Clark was scoreless in the first quarter before starting off the second period with a long trey. She was constantly harassed defensively by Laney-Hamilton and Kayla Thornton and never got going in the game.
Both teams started to heat up, the Fever started to feed Mitchell and she put NY on their heels scoring 15 points in the second quarter, but New York maintained a comfortable 55-37 lead at halftime led by Jones and Laney-Hamilton with 13.
In the third quarter the Libs boost their lead to 81-52, the Fever couldn’t shut down the Liberty torrid shooting from the perimeter and NY poured it on from the outside.
“Their legs were shot. I mean, that’s where everything stems from, your legs, when you shoot the basketball — especially for 3s,” Indiana coach Christie Sides said. “They’re shot, they’re gassed, so everything was a little short.”
UP NEXT:
Fever: Indiana finally gets time to rest as its next game is Friday in Washington.
Liberty: New York travels to Chicago for a rematch against the Sky, who handed the team its first loss of the season.
