New York Liberty wing Leonie Fiebich spent the last seven weeks watching from the sidelines as the Liberty struggled to find a groove, going 9-7 in her absence as she recovered from a left foot injury. The defensive standout and 3-point shooting ace was, as she put it, “suffering a lot” observing from afar, “know[ing] we struggle sometimes in games and know[ing] that I can help and want to do that.”
In her first game back Saturday, Fiebich demonstrated just how much of a boost she can be for the championship-minded Liberty, leaving her fingerprints all over New York’s 109-102 victory over the Indiana Fever.
Fiebich — whom Liberty coach Chris DeMarco called “one of the best players in the entire WNBA” — finished with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, with New York shooting 5 for 5 off her passes. She was also the best defender on Caitlin Clark, limiting her to 5 points on 2 for 7 shooting.
Fiebich had a minutes restriction,
Fiebich had a minutes restriction, but with her feeling OK physically and making such a massive impact, that was thrown out the window for her to play just shy of 34 minutes.
“It felt like she was impacting the game in so many different areas, even in areas that weren’t on the stat sheet,’ said Jonquel Jones, who finished with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double. “Picking up full court, being really aggressive defensively, helping us set the tone defensively. I think it was an all-around game for her. … She just really did everything at a high level today.”
The Liberty are hoping that — after a rocky start to DeMarco’s first year — Fiebich’s re-incorporation into the lineup gets them one step closer to playing like the team they’ve believed they can be.
There’s just this bond that we have
“There’s just this bond that we have with one another,” Sabrina Ionescu said of Fiebich playing alongside the Liberty big three of her, Jones and Breanna Stewart (22 points). “Our will to win, our ability to play with each other and not have to communicate. Like, we just know. We’ve been at it for a couple years now. I think you were able to see that tonight. She fit in seamlessly.”
Fiebich, who was a key component to the Liberty’s 2024 championship run, was particularly effective with nine points in the third quarter, including an emphatic and-one with 1:42 remaining when the typically stoic German showed a rare flash of emotion, yelling at the crowd after the made basket and putting New York ahead by nine.
The Liberty did just enough to keep a high-octane Fever squad at bay and received a lucky break with Indiana shooting abysmally from the free-throw line (11-for-22). But with Fiebich on the floor to assist with ball movement and spacing, New York still had one of its better offensive performances of the season, shooting 58% from the floor and netting 11 of their 27 3-point attempts.
This is how we want to play every
“This is how we want to play every single night,” Ionescu said. “I think you saw togetherness. Everyone had really, really impactful minutes.”
The Liberty have won 10 of their last 13 games since a 20-point road loss to Indiana on July 18 that was one of the more deflating points of their season. Though New York showed some progress in the subsequent games, its following matchup against the Fever on Aug. 11 featured a similar result, a 14-point defeat in which they trailed by as many as 21.
Saturday then was an opportunity to flip the script and show what they were capable of.
Part of it was Fiebich’s return —
Part of it was Fiebich’s return — the Liberty are now 11-4 on the year with her on the floor — but the team was pleased for the most part with its execution and focus across the board, culminating in New York’s most convincing performance in recent weeks.
“I think everybody was locked in tonight,” Jones said.
“They’re a really good team, right?” Fiebich added. “They’re going to be a playoff team. We might see them at some stage, so just want to have that good feeling whenever we see them, like we know that we can beat them, and I think that helps us a lot.”
Still, the Liberty have a ways to go, in their eyes, if they hope to secure their second championship in three years.
New York — which was a five-seed last
New York — which was a five-seed last year in the postseason — currently sits sixth in the standings, one game behind the Fever, who are in fifth place. The Liberty have two games remaining before the FIBA break, which runs from Aug. 31 to Sept. 16.
“I don’t know if we proved anything to ourselves,” Stewart said of Saturday’s game. “I think that we know this team has been through a lot, but we have a lot of fight left in us. … I’m really excited to continue to build, like better late than never, I guess. But now it’s just really important how we finish this season.”
Source: www.espn.com
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