It\u2019s that balance and veteran continuity from the defending champions that has them atop the WNBA standings in key offensive metrics: points per game (88.3), PACE (calculated as possessions per minute times a 40-minute game) (98.03), and effective field goal percentage (54.3 percent). They\u2019re also just behind the Atlanta Dream for league\u2019s best in offensive rating (108.5 vs 108.3). Stewart, in her ninth WNBA season, is finding success within the scheme\u2019s fluidity.<\/p>\n
Through 13 games this season, Stewart is shooting a career-best 61.5 percent inside the arc, per Basketball Reference<\/a>, far above her career average of 52.4 percent. (For added context, her second-highest mark came in 2018, Stewart\u2019s first MVP season and one of the most efficient in the history of the WNBA; that year, Stewart knocked down 57.6 percent of her two-point looks.)<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So much of her scoring has come within the context of the offense, as Stewart has been assisted on 78.4 percent of her makes, the best mark across her three-year Liberty tenure. Per Basketball Reference<\/a>, her average shot distance is just 11.0 feet from the basket, far below her career average of 12.8 feet and another career-low (and career-best). While Stewart has continued to struggle from three\u2014a worrisome trend dating back to late in the 2023 season\u2014she\u2019s taking fewer threes than ever before. Through 13 games, Stewart is launching just 2.9 threes a night, one full attempt short of her previous career low, and significantly below her career per-game average of 4.6 threes.<\/p>\n Still, even within this early-season small sample, the returns have not been good. Stewart has made just eight of 38 from beyond the arc, steeply below the career 35.3-percent prowess she\u2019s established, and that 21.1 percent hit rate bests only Carla Leite of the Golden State Valkyries (10.7 percent) and Stef Dolson of the Mystics (20.7 percent) among WNBA players with at least 25 attempts. That makes the relative lack of frequency more bearable, until she\u2019s back to knocking them down with more consistency.<\/p>\n A factor contributing to her poor shooting from distance could be injury recovery. Following the Unrivaled season this past winter, Stewart underwent a minor scope on her right meniscus<\/a>. New York built her up throughout training camp, and it was common to see her stay after practice to get more shots up, with an emphasis on the mechanics, on exploding up.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s gonna take reps,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna take a few games. I\u2019m not consciously feeling, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s not falling. I don\u2019t want to take as many.\u2019 Honestly, because it\u2019s not falling, I want to shoot more.\u201d<\/p>\n With the constant movement of the offense: a quick side-to-side swing of the ball, or an initiating dribble-handoff, or\u2014the Liberty\u2019s best offense\u2014a fast break run-out, Stewart often finds herself heading downhill with a step on her defender.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the flow,\u201d said Stewart. \u201cWhen we\u2019re running in transition and stuff, at some point I\u2019m breaking that three-point line, or I\u2019m cutting to the basket, or I\u2019m sensing a mismatch. So, I could definitely seek out some more threes, but I\u2019m taking them as I get them, and just going to\u00a0 continue to be confident and aggressive. Because I know I\u2019m a great shooter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s such a good player, she\u2019s such an experienced player,\u201d said Sabally. \u201cShe knows that if her shots outside might not be falling, she can always get what she needs inside.\u201d<\/p>\n Until those threes begin to fall, though, Stewart is making decisive actions in rotation, attacking closeouts when overloaded defenses are scrambling to recover. With the perimeter spaced and the length of her strides, the help often comes too late to prevent her from getting off a clean look.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The backcourt pairing of Sabrina Ionescu and Cloud has been key to Stewart\u2019s success, with the pair accounting for 55 of her 69 assisted buckets (31 from Cloud, 24 from Ionescu).\u00a0<\/p>\n With Ionescu, it\u2019s often a timing play: a backdoor cut to a tight window, or an empty-side pick-and-roll, or an outlet pass stretching the boundaries of the 7\u20191\u201d wingspan that allows Stewart to high-five fans on opposite sides of the tunnel at the same time (!)<\/a>.<\/p>\n See Also<\/p>\n \u201cI kind of view her as the vet that I was able to have,\u201d Ionescu said of the connection she and Stewart have developed since becoming teammates in 2023. \u201cI watch how she\u2019s been able to manipulate defenses, because she\u2019s so versatile. Her ability to read the game and also just understand what teams are giving up, to go in on every single night and take what the defense gives her, but play at her own pace, is really impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n For Cloud, who hasn\u2019t shared the court quite as long, it\u2019s less chemistry-focused, and more a mutual recognition of shared basketball IQ. In the season opener against the Aces, Cloud discerned Las Vegas\u2019 switching scheme, and threw quick entries into Stewart so she could get two feet into the paint before help could close. When the Valkyries whipped out a ton of zone, Cloud force fed the elbow, and Stewart peppered Golden State with midrange jumpers<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of times, me and Stewie go to ball screens early to see how other teams are going to be playing me and her,\u201d Cloud said. \u201cIf they want to switch, then good luck, because I\u2019m just going to pull a b**** out. And If I don\u2019t have Stewie on the post up, we have spray-out kicks for the weak side.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a variety,\u201d Stewart says of the passes from her guards. On one play, it\u2019ll be Ionescu threading the needle with a bounce pass through traffic. On the next, it\u2019ll be Cloud attacking downhill to bait the help before dishing the dime. Or it\u2019ll be Ionescu and Stewart operating the empty-side pick-and-roll, which gives both players tons of space to operate. \u201cThey have a great awareness for me, and I definitely appreciate them for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Stewart rewards her teammates\u2019 trust with an uncanny ability to catch passes in traffic and quickly contort through tight windows to get shots up at the rim. \u201cI think it\u2019s impossible not to develop a connection with a player like Stewie. She makes your job a lot easier right on the court with how efficient she plays,\u201d Cloud said. \u201cI\u2019ve been blessed to play with a lot of great players in my career, but Stewie is basically a 6\u20194\u201d guard, which is just really special to play with.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250621_190041_img1.jpg\")
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<\/a><\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Stewie_hexmap2.png\")
Caption: Breanna Stewart\u2019s hex map of shot frequency and success, via WNBA.com<\/p>\n