The No. 3 seed Connecticut Solar took Recreation 1 of the WNBA semifinals towards the No. 2 seed New York Liberty in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday afternoon. Trailing by three factors on the half, the Solar upset the Liberty 78-63.
“Their Worst Recreation Of The Season”
The Solar went 0-4 towards the Liberty in the course of the common season, giving the Liberty their first lack of the postseason. Each groups are hoping for his or her first championship. That is the Liberty’s first semifinal look since 2015, and the Solar’s fifth consecutive 12 months making it to the semifinals.
“That was their worst recreation of the season, however we’ve acquired nice gamers, and we should reply in the suitable method,” mentioned Sandy Brondello, head coach of the Liberty. “It’s an ideal problem for us.”
Solar head coach Stephanie White referred to as this recreation efficiency, “in all probability essentially the most constant 40 minutes that we’ve performed all 12 months.”
![New York Liberty vs Connecticut Sun](https://d3stcg8iy7fvse.cloudfront.net/2023/09/24175323/E_BT6_0331-scaled.jpg)
The Liberty solely made eight of 27 threes and had been outscored within the paint 34-22. Solely 4 of these factors occurred within the second half of the sport.
The Liberty completed on 33.8% taking pictures from the sector, 29.6% from three and 75% on the free throw line. Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Sabrina Ionescu all completed with double-digit scoring – Stewart with 19 factors, six rebounds and three assists, Jones with 14 factors, a game-high 11 rebounds and two blocks, and Ionescu with 12 factors, and a pair of rebounds on 50% from past the arc.
For the Solar, DeWanna Bonner completed with a game-high 20 factors, seven rebounds and three assists, and Rebecca Allen had 18 factors and 7 rebounds.
The Power Was Excessive In The Barclays Heart For Recreation 1 Of The WNBA Semifinals
![NY Liberty vs. Connecticut Sun](https://d3stcg8iy7fvse.cloudfront.net/2023/09/24175129/IMG-4088-scaled.jpg)
The sold-out crowd for the primary recreation of the WNBA semifinals in Barclays Heart was excessive power and prepared for a memorable occasion. Everybody introduced the thrill and noise for the a lot anticipated first recreation of the semifinals. Everybody was given a Liberty semifinals towel to wave in the course of the recreation, and at many factors all through the sport, everybody did simply that.
Liberty followers had been pumped as their workforce was up three factors on the half after trailing by 4 within the first quarter. Lola Brooke, a well known rapper from Brooklyn, took to the courtroom to carry out her hit, “Don’t Play With It.”
Getting Prepared For Recreation 2 On Tuesday Night time
![New York Liberty vs. Connecticut Sun](https://d3stcg8iy7fvse.cloudfront.net/2023/09/24181138/E_BT6_0179-scaled.jpg)
On the lookout for a win from Recreation 2 on Tuesday, Brondello mentioned they “can’t lose two at house.”
“My messaging is Okay, we simply misplaced at house, we will’t lose two at house. I imply, that’s it. That’s what it comes all the way down to. We’ve acquired to win this subsequent recreation,” Brondello informed her workforce after the Recreation 1 loss. “That is our knockout recreation. And we’ve acquired to carry power, no matter we have to do, we’ve acquired to guarantee that we keep collectively most significantly. We’ve misplaced the sport, however we will make modifications and we’ve acquired to all keep collectively and consider that we will get this achieved.”
Recreation 2 of the semifinals will happen on the Barclays Heart in Brooklyn on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. Rapper Remy Ma will likely be acting at halftime. Recreation 3 of the best-of-five collection will happen in Connecticut, in addition to Recreation 4 if crucial. If a Recreation 5 is required, they’ll be again in Brooklyn.