Liberty Drop WNBA 30th Anniversary Game
WNBA New York Liberty

Liberty Drop WNBA 30th Anniversary Game

Published on June 21, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
New York Liberty News Release


LOS ANGELES - The New York Liberty (11-6) fell, 98-97, to the Sparks (8-8) as the teams honored the league's 30th season on the anniversary of the inaugural WNBA game.

Breanna Stewart put up a double-double with 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to go with four assists and a pair of steals. Stewart passed Crystal Robinson (440) for 11th on the Liberty's all-time assists list. Jonquel Jones scored 18 points on 66.7 percent (6-for-9) shooting from the field and 57.1 percent (4-for-7) shooting from deep as she tied her season high for 3-pointers in a game. Jones added eight rebounds, three assists and two steals while passing Tari Phillips (1,077) for second on the Liberty's all-time rebounding list and matching her career high for steals in a quarter with two in the first.

Satou Sabally finished with 14 points, five rebounds and a season-high seven assists. Sabally connected on three 3-pointers in the first half, matching her season high for 3-pointers in a single half. Leonie Fiebich put up 13 points on 50 percent (4-for-8) shooting from the field and 50 percent (3-for-6) from long range. Fiebich has scored 32 points in her last two games, tying the second-highest scoring total in any two-game span of her career.

Pauline Astier put up 17 points, five assists and four rebounds to go with one steal and a block in 21 minutes off the bench. Astier shot 80 percent (4-for-5) from the field to become the fourth rookie in WNBA history to record 17 points, five assists and four rebounds while shooting 80 percent from the field in a single game. She became the first rookie and fourth player in WNBA history to record such a stat line off the bench, and the first player ever to do so while playing fewer than 25 minutes.

The Liberty closed the first quarter on a 13-4 run and led 28-18 after the first quarter. New York's reserves outscored Los Angeles 15-0 in the opening frame, marking the first time since 2023 that the Liberty held the opposing bench scoreless while scoring at least 15 bench points in a quarter. New York held a 55-43 lead at the break after the Liberty reserves outscored the Sparks bench 20-11 in the first half while doubling Los Angeles on the boards, 20-10. This marks the third time in 2026 that New York has doubled an opponent's rebounding total in a single half, after the Liberty only did so once during the 2025 season.

New York went on a 12-4 run from 9:04 to 7:02 in the third but the Sparks responded by closing the third on an 8-0 run to cut the Liberty's lead to 76-70 entering the fourth. The teams battled in the fourth, and Astier blocked a potential game-tying triple with 10.8 seconds remaining before the Sparks connected on a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 98-97 win. This marks the third time this season that five Liberty players scored at least 12 points in a game, matching the most such games by any team so far in 2026.

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