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, that is a serious change
00:18in 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 draft
00:39her in 2021. She started the 2026 season on a developmental contract, working back from
00:45a year-long layoff following a knee injury. A standard contract followed in August. And
00:49then came postseason promotion. More minutes, more decisions, and some very loud moments to
00:56make them. Let's start with game one against Atlanta when she got some burn and went zero
01:00for four and didn't commit a turnover. In that game, New York had 21 turnovers that became
01:0532 Atlanta points. So, keeping the possession alive had real value. Here, Fautuths uses Stewart's
01:11screen, gets into the middle, then finds Stewie for the jumper. She gets the defense moving
01:16and delivers the ball back to her screener. That's a guard helping a star get a shot.
01:21And while the box score says Fautuths didn't score, the possession showed how she could still
01:25help.
01:26In game two, watch Fautuths. With the shot clock running down, she uses Brianna Stewart's screen,
01:32turns the corner, and gets into the paint. Atlanta's help closes in, but she finishes at the
01:36rim to put New York up too. That's her creating a shot of her own, another way to get New
01:41York's
01:41offense moving, and shots like those were huge. That's the point of putting another creator on
01:47the floor. Fautuths could help New York's stars through the pressure by making a player of her
01:52own. For four dimes in game two, they were a part of the story. So were 20 points on eight
01:58for 10
01:58shooting, including four threes. Late in the third, the bank was open for Fautuths as she hit a three to
02:04cut Atlanta's lead to one. Then in overtime, New York fell behind by five. Fautuths used a high screen,
02:10found enough room, pulled up from three, draining this one. A guard who can pass out of the action
02:15and score out of it gives the defense more to account for. And that brings us back to the big
02:21shot. New York, down three, late in regulation. Now watch Fautuths. She works off of the screening
02:27action, gets available, then catches Stewie's pass and lets it fly to even it up at 88 all. Head coach
02:34Chris DeMarco ran a double pin down with two options for Stewart. Fautuths did her part to
02:39make that option work. And DeMarco says, quote, she lives for big moments. She certainly gave the
02:45Liberty one to remember. Now, Fautuths also had three turnovers in game two, so the decisions
02:50still have room to improve. But that larger responsibility continued. In game three,
02:55she was the only reserve to enter in the second half, playing all but two minutes of those final
03:00two quarters. The Liberty season ended in a sweep, but Fautuths left New York in 2026 with something
03:06worth building on. She went from two minutes at the start of the postseason to a major roll by the
03:11end of New York's run. They say, you don't have to get ready if you stay ready. And despite the
03:16Liberty's disappointing end to the season against Atlanta, Marine Fautuths answered the call.
03:30B
03:30was by Bernard щеbари.
03:31yeah
03:31yeah
03:31yeah
03:33yeah
03:34yeah
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