The Liberty, as they’ve come to be known for, jumped out to an early double-digit lead. Then, also as they’ve come to be known for, they took their foot off the gas. After leading by 18 after a quarter, they played even with the Fever in the second. In the third, it took Kelsey Mitchell 30 seconds to make a layup, for the Liberty to turn it over, and for Mitchell to hit a jumper to pull the Fever to within 12 points.
Liberty coach Sandy Brondello called a quick timeout.
“Sabrina, before we went out, said ‘Let’s be consistent with effort and our process,’” Brondello said. “She made a point that we hadn’t been good. It’s a mindset thing. We had some lapses, but the players adjusted.”
It was just like what happened against the Mystics on Friday, the Mercury on Wednesday, and a handful of other times this season. Only this time, the Liberty scored 20 of the next 24 points after the timeout and never looked back, beating the Fever 104-68 in their first Commissioner’s Cup game of the season.
For Ionescu, she has watched the Liberty give teams a “little hope” one too many times.
“I think it’s understanding there’s been a lot of games that the second quarter has just not been good to us and kind of putting your foot down and being like, ‘It’s not gonna happen tonight and tonight is the night that we have to turn the page,’” she said.
Brondello noticed the shift in energy after that third-quarter timeout.
“We had to call a quick timeout, but it was good,” Brondello said. “These players could adjust and get back to playing how we need to. Sometimes when we get up, I think we get a little bit bored. So it’s more like, ‘No, let’s continue to play for 40 minutes because that’s what we’re gonna need and it’s about us fulfilling our potential.’”
