Stewart, Laney-Hamilton deliver as Liberty level series with Lynx

NEW YORK —  Breanna Stewart said as disappointing as the New York Liberty’s Game 1 loss in the WNBA Finals was on Thursday, she didn’t lose sleep over it. She reviewed video of her free throw that rimmed out at the end of regulation and the layup she missed at the end of overtime.

In neither case did she think she had done anything fundamentally wrong; the shots just didn’t fall. That allowed her to get rest without dwelling on it too much. Still, when you’re a two-time league MVP, you can’t wait to redeem yourself.

“The moment the game ended Thursday, I was looking forward to Sunday,” Stewart said.

In the Liberty’s 80-66 Game 2 win over Minnesota, Stewart’s fingerprints covered the box score. She led New York with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and a WNBA Finals-record 7 steals. She joined Alyssa Thomas in 2019 as the only players to record 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals in a Finals game, according to ESPN Research.

Stewart also had a big responsibility in slowing down Minnesota star Napheesa Collier, who had 16 points and 8 rebounds, but also 7 turnovers.

Stewart was a senior and Collier a freshman on the UConn women’s last national championship team, in 2015-16. Huskies coach Geno Auriemma was in attendance at Sunday’s game, and Stewart joked it was “about time” he came to Brooklyn to watch her play. He saw the grown-up version of the player who led UConn to four consecutive NCAA titles.

“She was all over the floor, just wreaking havoc on everything, was in the gaps, and making things hard [for the Lynx],” New York guard Courtney Vandersloot said of Stewart. “When you have your best player, your leader, playing as hard as she does, night in and night out and impacting the game in different ways — not just scoring and rebounding … she’s doing other things — it’s a big motivator for everybody and she sets the standard for us.”

The Liberty also got a huge offensive game from a more unexpected source Sunday. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who has battled knee issues that forced her to miss 10 games in the regular season, tied her season high with 20 points while also covering a lot of ground on defense.

“She was digging deep, and that’s what we needed,” coach Sandy Brondello said.

Laney-Hamilton said, “I think it gives me a little bit of momentum as we continue to go through the series. It felt really good because I know I’ve been struggling, physically, mentally as I’ve been going through everything.”

The victory evened the best-of-five series heading into the next two games in Minneapolis. The Liberty and the Lynx, the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in the playoffs, tied for the best regular-season record at home this year, each going 16-4. The Liberty had the best road record, too, also16-4.

The 18,046 fans Sunday set a record for a Liberty game at Barclays Center, where the team has played full time since 2021. Big crowds are expected for Game 3 on Wednesday and Game 4 on Friday at Target Center. Stewart said she and the Liberty are ready for that.

“We embrace it; we like it when it’s loud, when it’s difficult,” Stewart said. “Hopefully it’s going to be an incredible atmosphere for both of those games. [It’s about] not getting too high or too low; things are going to seem bigger than they are because they are playing at home. I’m sure Minny said the same thing when they’re playing here.”

Avoiding a two-game deficit was imperative for Stewart and the Liberty after Thursday’s 95-93 loss in which they let a 15-point lead get away in the final 5 minutes of regulation. With New York never having won a championship in the WNBA’s previous 27 seasons, the Liberty have historical pressure on them.

But by Saturday, the Liberty sounded more upbeat after practice. Stewart predicted then that she would not let herself feel any hangover from the Game 1 loss.

“I can’t strive to be the best, to be great, but then be afraid to fail,” she said. “This is what happens when you put yourself in high-stress, important situations. You face possible failure. Yeah, I was upset because we could have won [Thursday’s] game. But I’m happy I took the shots. Throughout this entire process, my team has my back every step of the way.”

Brondello said she told Stewart right after Thursday’s loss, ” ‘Look, this is not on you. This is on us.’

“We win together as a team, we lose together as a team. There’s no pointing fingers. We all could have done things better. It hurts, but what are we going to do about it? We have to pick Stewie up. One thing about Stewie, she bounces back pretty quick.”