{"id":783832,"date":"2026-05-09T08:05:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T08:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/783832\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T08:05:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T08:05:23","slug":"breanna-stewart-leads-new-york-liberty-in-blowout-of-ct-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/783832\/","title":{"rendered":"Breanna Stewart leads New York Liberty in blowout of CT Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 The Connecticut Sun<\/a> hoped this season would be different from its dismal record in 2025, but the team\u2019s performance in its 2026 opener against the New York Liberty<\/a> on Friday night felt painfully familiar.<\/p>\n

The Sun never had a chance after an 8-0 run by the Liberty forced Sun coach Rachid Meziane to burn a timeout barely two minutes into the game, and the brief reset did nothing to slow New York\u2019s momentum fueled by the electric energy of a packed crowd at Barclays Center. Connecticut was down 20 points before the end of the first quarter, and the Liberty never looked back in its 106-75 blowout win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are disappointed with how we played today. We didn\u2019t come out with the energy needed to come out for a game,\u201d Sun forward Diamond Miller<\/a> said. \u201cWe felt like our defense was flat. They were pretty much getting whatever they wanted, and that\u2019s just unacceptable, and that\u2019s something we have to really dive in on. Give credit to New York, they\u2019re a good team, but I don\u2019t know, I feel like we gave them a lot of those opportunities \u2026 So we\u2019re definitely going to go back to the drawing board.\u201d<\/p>\n

UConn legend Breanna Stewart<\/a> defended her home court in dominant fashion, leading the Liberty with 31 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in the rout. French guard Marine Johannes<\/a> was equally unstoppable, knocking down five 3-pointers to finish with 17 points on top of five rebounds, three assists and three steals.<\/p>\n

Miller was one of the few bright spots for the Sun, leading the team with 16 points, shooting 6-for-16 from the field. Superstar center Brittney Griner<\/a> struggled to get going against the Liberty\u2019s loaded frontcourt, finishing with 13 points and six rebounds in her Connecticut debut.<\/p>\n

\"ConnecticutConnecticut Sun center Brittney Griner (42) shoots over New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones (35) during a WNBA basketball game in New York on Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo\/Adam Hunger)<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s probably the only one who played our game,\u201d Meziane said of Miller. \u201cWe want to play with more ambition technically and mentally, and I think she did that. She took some risks, and she was effective tonight. I really like how she tried to help and support her teammates. That\u2019s something we need to value and encourage for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sun\u2019s inexperience was at the root of its disastrous first-quarter showing, its young players visibly out of sorts against a New York roster stacked with perennial All-Stars and WNBA champions. Connecticut gave up 10 points off of five turnovers in the opening quarter, and they were a step behind the Liberty at every turn getting outscored 12-0 on fast-break opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took a timeout and I said to my players, \u2018I know that we are a young team, but right now we are playing like babies,\u2019 so we need to change that,\u201d Meziane said. \u201cWe need to play more physical. We probably respected (New York) too much, and we just let them run what they wanted and find these easy looks and layups.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meziane threw his trio of rookies into the deep end against New York, running a lineup with all three players on the court for extended stretches in the first quarter. Former UCLA guards Charlisse Leger-Walker<\/a> and Gianna Kneepkens<\/a> both experienced their \u2018welcome to the league\u2019 moments before halftime.<\/p>\n

Leger-Walker\u2019s came late in the first quarter when she went up for a layup that never had a chance of making it to the rim before 6-foot-6 former MVP Jonquel Jones<\/a> blocked it over the rookie\u2019s shoulder. Kneepkens struggled defensively to handle the Liberty\u2019s pace and wound up seated on the court after a crossover<\/a> move by All-Star Betnijah Laney-Hamilton<\/a> early in the second.<\/p>\n

Kneepkens had a resilient response at the other end, bringing down an offensive rebound and getting the ball out to point guard Hailey Van Lith<\/a>, who fed it back to her in the corner for her first official points as a WNBA player on a 3-pointer. It was the first outside shot the Sun made in the game after beginning 0-for-5.<\/p>\n

Van Lith got picked up by the Sun barely 48 hours ago after she was waived by the Chicago Sky, and she had a solid showing in her first appearance with the team. The second-year guard was the first player to hit multiple field goals when she knocked down a 3-pointer in the second quarter, and she ended with nine points shooting 4-for-7 plus four assists and a steal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like how she tried to help the team instead of trying to (prove) what she\u2019s capable of doing, so I appreciate her mindset trying to play in our team offense,\u201d Meziane said. \u201cShe played with a lot of courage. She took her shots, she created a little bit \u2026 For a player who only practiced one time, we can be satisfied with what she produced tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sun managed to keep pace with New York in the second quarter, only getting outscored by six points after trailing by 23 at the end of the first. But a brutal shooting performance kept them from making a dent in the Liberty lead, especially as they struggled to get stops on the defensive end. Connecticut hit just 38% from the field in the first half to New York\u2019s 56%, and it was 2-for-9 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

\"ConnecticutConnecticut Sun guard Hailey Van Lith (2) controls the ball past New York Liberty guard Pauline Astier (18) during a WNBA basketball game in New York on Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo\/Adam Hunger)<\/p>\n

The Sun came into the second half with a burst of energy sparked by back-to-back buckets from Miller. Connecticut led New York 13-4 through the first four minutes of the third quarter, but Stewart killed the momentum with a vicious block from behind as Miller went up for a fast-break layup off of a steal. Johannes then drilled a transition 3-pointer that got the home crowd fired up, though the Sun still managed to outscore the Liberty 23-21 in the third.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had flashes where you could see a change in our mindset, and we became the aggressor a little bit, and we started to dictate,\u201d Van Lith said. \u201cBut with youth, a lot of times consistency is the issue. So with with this squad, we just have to work on putting those flashes together more often.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meziane once again went to rookie-heavy lineups for most of the fourth with New York\u2019s starters off the court. Kneepkens finished with seven points and five boards to lead the team\u2019s first-year players. Forward Aneesah Morrow<\/a> also joined Miller and Griner in double digits in the final frame, ending with 15 points and six boards.<\/p>\n

Former UConn standout Aubrey Griffin also made her WNBA debut Friday just hours after signing a hardship contract with the Liberty. The Ossining, N.Y., native played five minutes and scored her first points as a professional on a driving layup in the final 30 seconds of the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 The Connecticut Sun hoped this season would be different from its dismal record in 2025,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":783833,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,49222,5336,1512,282924,2738,2472,7000,72812,93429,7001,728,70253,201814,405,403,1520,5226,5225,5228,5227,21827,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-783832","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-barclays-center","10":"tag-breanna-stewart","11":"tag-brittney-griner","12":"tag-charlisse-leger-walker","13":"tag-connecticut","14":"tag-connecticut-sun","15":"tag-ct-news","16":"tag-diamond-miller","17":"tag-gianna-kneepkens","18":"tag-hartford-courant","19":"tag-local-news","20":"tag-marine-johannes","21":"tag-max-image-preview","22":"tag-new-york","23":"tag-new-york-city","24":"tag-new-york-liberty","25":"tag-newyork","26":"tag-newyorkcity","27":"tag-ny","28":"tag-nyc","29":"tag-rachid-meziane","30":"tag-sports","31":"tag-united-states","32":"tag-united-states-of-america","33":"tag-unitedstates","34":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","35":"tag-us","36":"tag-usa","37":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116543588316294555","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}