00:00All right, the Liberty, they finally did it.
00:01They got a win over the Lynx.
00:03It took four tries this season,
00:04but they finally got one here at the Barclays Center,
00:0785-75 on Tuesday night over the Lynx.
00:11And look, this was a much-needed win for the Liberty,
00:13one that they can feel really good about
00:15because it was a disappointing end to their recent road trip
00:18where they fell to the Lynx on Saturday.
00:20This is the fourth time that these teams played
00:22in about the last three weeks.
00:24So a lot of familiarity recently,
00:26but the Liberty, they lost all three games until tonight.
00:29And this was a game where they were led by their stars.
00:31Their stars got it done when they needed it the most.
00:35John Cole Jones, a game-high 22 points.
00:37She also had 10 rebounds.
00:39And then Sabrina Unescu, huge game, 17 points, 11 dimes in this one.
00:44And Saab hit arguably the biggest shot of the season,
00:47a shot that had this Barclays Center crowd rocking
00:50in a way I had not heard all season long.
00:53Sabrina Unescu hit a shot, a three-pointer, 31-foot three-pointer,
00:58which ended up being a dagger with 33.8 seconds to go.
01:02And she was fouled.
01:03That shot had the Liberty up seven points.
01:05That was a dagger.
01:06They would cruise on from there.
01:08And it was a really huge shot.
01:09But when you look at it, it's not just that shot.
01:11It was the offensive performance.
01:13The Liberty hit 13 threes against the Lynx.
01:15And I shot 40% from downtown.
01:1823 assists on 29 made field goals.
01:21So they were moving the ball extremely well.
01:24Talked about Saab having 11-0 assists.
01:26And for Sabrina Unescu, she talked about how the offense went well for the Liberty Knights.
01:31She said they were more decisive than they had been in the previous three games against the Lynx.
01:35And they attacked and were aggressive with that throughout.
01:38But head coach Sandy Brandello also talked about defensively how she liked the effort from her team.
01:43You saw a little bit of Leone Feebich on Courtney Williams in this game.
01:46She said she liked how her length was able to frustrate her.
01:49And then Jonquil Jones, after this game, also talked about how this game was important.
01:54Not just for the fact that Liberty had not beaten the Lynx at all this season.
01:58They get their first win against them.
01:59But that this is the start of the final 10 games of the season.
02:03And she said, look, we need to win as many games as possible down the stretch to get the highest seed that we can as possible.
02:09And the highest possible seed likely for the Liberty is the number two overall seed in the WNBA playoffs.
02:15But Jonquil also talked about the fact that they need to use these games to get ready for the playoffs,
02:21especially if they want to defend their title.
02:23So if they're going to defend their title, the Lynx, the number one team in the NBA,
02:27they are in the way of the Liberty.
02:28And they've been in the way of the Liberty all season long.
02:30But there's a way in which you can look at this game as the Liberty's best win of the season,
02:36best effort all season.
02:37That's a word that head coach Sandy Brandello has talked about numerous times throughout the season.
02:41But the effort was absolutely here tonight in the 85-75 victory over the Lynx.
02:46And now it'll be interesting to see how the Liberty build upon this.
02:50The next game comes right here at the Barclays Center on Thursday when they host the Chicago Sky.
02:55So the Liberty are going to look to build on this one.
02:57But this is a huge win.
02:59There's been a lot of chatter throughout the team.
03:01And there was a little fun moment after the game in which Dominique Patrick,
03:05the sideline reporter for the Liberty, asked Sabrina Neske about the dagger three.
03:09And she said it was night-night.
03:11Well, Liberty said night-night to the Lynx tonight as they put them away.
03:15And now we'll see how they can move forward.
03:17But a huge win for the defending champs.
03:20And now all eyes will be on them to see if they can continue to build upon that.
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