Liberty Rookie Shines in Expanded Role
With a Rebel yell, the New York Liberty's most recent first-round pick took advantage of more, more, more.
The past week-plus has required all hands on deck for the Liberty, who continue to work without All-Stars Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (knee) and Courtney Vandersloot (personal reasons). The remaining fateful eight includes Mississippi alumna Marquesha Davis, the most recent No. 11 pick of the WNBA Draft.
Pressed into larger minutes in a Sunday tilt against the Atlanta Dream, Davis set young career-bests with nine points and a steal over 13 minutes of a 96-75 victory, New York's third in a row. Each of Davis' points came in a second period that confirmed the game's one-sided tone as she hit all four of her tries from the field in that 10-minute span.
"It felt great," Davis said in the aftermath. "I try to stay ready and each time I get in, I embrace the opportunity. That's what I did (today) ... I've been getting in with coaches, working on my game outside of practice. That's helped me stay prepared and be ready."
Davis, who also spent time at Arkansas, was perhaps always destined to be a project: little more needs to be said about the assembly of All-Stars the team fully attained while the team stocked its revamped reserve unit behind Kayla Thornton will experience of the international MVP variety (Kennedy Burke, Leonie Fiebich) while young veterans Sabally and Ivana Dojkic seemed destined for big roles.
With injuries eating away at the rotation, however, Davis earned the first expanded opportunity of her career, one also caused by the back-to-back nature of the Liberty's weekend.
Davis, who has garnered comparisons to three-time All-Star and 2021 WNBA Finals MVP Kahleah Copper, has fallen victim to rookie rawness, such as two foul charges in three minutes during Saturday's win over Los Angeles, but Sunday provided a solid opportunity for New York brass to laud to laud her progress as she continues to wade through the professional pool.
"When you come in, you want to do what you can to maintain the lead that's there, but (also) plug the holes to what's needed," Sabrina Ionescu, the Liberty's leader with 26 points, said. "I think she saw a great opportunity from watching to start the game that driving lanes were open and she was going to be able to attack in transition."
"She did just that and that's what we know she's capable of doing. That's what she's done all of training camp and I think she knows we support her and want her to go out there and be who she is. I think, through these games, she has just continued to show that she's a lot more vetted than we've been able to give her credit for because she is a rookie. But I think that she has come out and has given us really good minutes that are going to help us forward in these next couple of games."
Time will tell if Davis keeps her role in the rotation once the Liberty regulars heal. Even if the ride ends, head coach Sandy Brondello is intrigued by what Davis has to offer both now and later.
"It's been good to get Q in there for some minutes here. She's a player that we know has a lot of talent," Brondello, pleased that Davis' outing allowed her to somewhat preserve her starters, said. "She's still young. It's a big transition from college to the pros. But every day you see her grow in confidence and familiarity, feeling comfortable in the system as well."
"I think the more oopportunities she gets, I think the more she'll feel more comfortable. But we know she has a bright future, even if she's playing limited minutes now."
Davis will take the floor with the Liberty on Tuesday night when the teams seeks to defend its Commissioner's Cup title against the Minnesota Lynx at UBS Arena (8 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video).
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks