The New York Liberty became the WNBA’s first team this season to clinch a playoff spot following their win on Saturday at the Las Vegas Aces.
With nearly a third of the regular-season schedule still remaining, New York will try to continue its winning ways on Tuesday when it hosts the struggling Dallas Wings.
The Liberty’s 79-67 win at Las Vegas pushed their win streak to six games, the last two coming after the league’s month-long Olympic break.
New York (23-4) used its familiar formula of stingy defense and backboard dominance to topple the two-time defending champions. The Liberty limited Las Vegas to 36.9 percent shooting and won the rebounding battle 46-30.
“Obviously, we’re super excited to clinch a spot in the playoffs,” said New York guard Sabrina Ionescu, who had 23 points in the victory.
“Our goal isn’t just to make it there, but it’s going to be (to) continue to win these games that we have coming up and continuing to just get better as a team.”
Liberty coach Sandy Brondello, who is the only coach in WNBA history to reach the playoffs in each of her first 12 seasons, downplayed concerns about her squad potentially losing focus down the stretch.
“I’ve been in these situations a lot and haven’t always clinched this early… but I always trust the teammates,” Brondello said.
“… We’re happy, but there’s still areas we can get better in.”
While New York’s defense has been stout, holding opponents to just 76.1 points per game and 41.1 percent shooting, Dallas has struggled at the defensive end.
The Wings (6-20) rank last in both opponent scoring (90.5 points per game) and opponent shooting (47.1 percent).
Dallas let the Connecticut Sun shoot 57.6 percent from the field and drain 11 of 20 (55 percent) 3-pointers in a 109-91 home loss on Friday.
The Wings did, however, enjoy the season debut of forward Satou Sabally, who had 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on Friday in her return from a shoulder injury.
“I think we need to find our groundwork again and (set) the standards high for ourselves,” Sabally said after the loss. “… I think we need to find our identity and play to that.”
Tuesday’s game is the first of four matchups between the teams over the final month of the regular season, which ends Sept. 19.
–Field Level Media