Michael Voepel, ESPN.com
Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty won Olympic gold in Paris, then resumed their WNBA seasons with wins in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and clinched a playoff spot. All in less than a week.
The top-ranked Liberty beat the two-time defending champion Aces 79-67 on Saturday, improving to 23-4 and clinching a playoff berth with a month left in the regular season. They are the first team to clinch the title, and they did so with their second win in Las Vegas this season.
“I’m just thrilled to be back with our team,” Stewart said Saturday of how her energy level has remained so high despite all she’s accomplished in such a short period of time. “We did our job. We won a gold medal and did something really special.”
“This second half of the season is really important. And there are no excuses. Nobody cares that we just finished the Olympics and we have a game four days later and a nine-hour time difference. When you think about it, it’s a little crazy.”
Ionescu led the team in scoring with 23 points, while Stewart had 18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Jonquel Jones also had a big game for the Liberty with 10 points, 17 rebounds and 7 assists.
A’ja Wilson had 24 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocks for the Aces. She and Las Vegas teammates Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray were also part of the gold-medal-winning U.S. team in Paris. But the Aces, in their first game since the Olympic break on Saturday, shot just 36.9 percent overall and 29 percent from three-point range. The Aces are fifth in the WNBA standings with 16 wins and nine losses.
Liberty coach Sandy Brondello has had a similar journey to Stewart and Ionescu. She guided Australia to bronze in Paris last Sunday before the Americans won gold against France. The Liberty won 103-68 Thursday in Los Angeles in their first game back.
“I think all three of us are still suffering from jet lag or fatigue,” Stewart said. “But we have to make sure we set the tone. Our teammates have really worked hard while we’ve been away, and we have more important things to do.”
Brondello, who coached Phoenix to the WNBA title in 2014, hopes to lead New York to its first WNBA title this year. But the veteran coach remains calm. She knows that another level can be reached by Liberty, especially when starting guard/forward Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who is recovering from knee surgery, returns to the Liberty.
“I’ve been in that situation a lot,” Brondello said. “My teams haven’t always been able to get their foot in the door this early in the season; we’ve had to fight. I’ve had great teams over the years, and they’ve always bought in. It makes my job and my staff’s job a lot easier.”
“But the job is not done. We will be stuck. I am not going too high or too low. So we are satisfied, but there are still areas where we can continue to improve. We are looking forward to continuing to develop.”
