00:00Stewart gives it up. Fautuths to tie. You bet. Oh, Fautuths, the rookie, delivers.
00:07Two minutes. That's all Marie Fautuths played in the Liberty's first round sweep of Minnesota.
00:12And by game two against Atlanta, she was playing nearly 31 minutes. Now,
00:17that is a serious change in the job description.
00:28When you look back at the semifinals, there's more to her breakout than that three that forced
00:34overtime. Fautuths gave New York another way to get its offense moving. The Liberty drafted her in
00:402021. She started the 2026 season on a developmental contract, working back from a year-long layoff
00:46following a knee injury. A standard contract followed in August. And then came postseason
00:51promotion. More minutes, more decisions, and some very loud moments to make them.
00:56Let's start with game one against Atlanta when she got some burn and went zero for four and didn't
01:01commit a turnover. In that game, New York had 21 turnovers that became 32 Atlanta points. So,
01:07keeping the possession alive had real value. Here, Fautuths uses Stewart's screen, gets into the
01:13middle, then finds Stewie for the jumper. She gets the defense moving and delivers the ball back to
01:18her screener. That's a guard helping a star get a shot. And while the box score says Fautuths didn't
01:23score, the possession showed how she could still help. In game two, watch Fautuths. With the shot
01:29clock running down, she uses Brianna Stewart's screen, turns the corner, and gets into the paint.
01:34Atlanta's help closes in, but she finishes at the rim to put New York up two. That's her creating the
01:39shot of her own, another way to get New York's offense moving, and shots like those were huge.
01:45That's the point of putting another creator on the floor. Fautuths could help New York stars
01:50through the pressure by making a player of her own. For four dimes in game two, they were a part
01:55of the
01:55story. So were 20 points on eight for 10 shooting, including four threes. Late in the third, the bank
02:02was open for Fautuths as she hit a three to cut Atlanta's lead to one. Then in overtime, New York
02:07fell
02:07behind by five. Fautuths used a high screen, found enough room, pulled up from three, draining this
02:13one. A guard who can pass out of the action and score out of it gives the defense more to
02:18account
02:19for. And that brings us back to the big shot. New York, down three, late in regulation. Now watch
02:25Fautuths. She works off of the screening action, gets available, then catches Stewie's pass and lets it
02:31fly to even it up at 88 all. Head coach Chris DiMarco ran a double pin down with two options
02:37for
02:37Stewart. Fautuths did her part to make that option work. And DiMarco says, quote, she lives
02:42for big moments. She certainly gave the Liberty one to remember. Now, Fautuths also had three
02:48turnovers in game two. So the decisions still have room to improve, but that larger responsibility
02:53continued. In game three, she was the only reserve to enter in the second half playing all but two
02:59minutes of those final two quarters. The Liberty season ended in a sweep, but Fautuths left New York
03:04in 2026 with something worth building on. She went from two minutes at the start of the postseason
03:09to a major roll by the end of New York's run. They say you don't have to get ready if
03:15you stay ready.
03:16And despite the Liberty's disappointing end to the season against Atlanta, Marine Fautuths answered the call.
