Vintage Betnijah Laney-Hamilton Comes Alive in Liberty Win

The 2024 WNBA Finals are a series again after Betnijah Laney-Hamilton rose to the occasion for the New York Liberty.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

BROOKLYN -- The Brooklynite with three names came through with a brilliant two-way performance for the New York Liberty.

The 2024 WNBA Finals are officially a best two-of-three series thanks in part to Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, whose dominant two-way effort in Sunday's second game against the Minnesota Lynx allowed New York to overcome a heartbreaking loss in the opener. The Liberty prevailed by an 80-66 final to knot the series at one game apiece after watching a sizable lead evaporate in Thursday's debut.

"For me, I think the one consistent thing is just trusting in the process, continue to trust in the Lord, you know, knowing that He has bought me this far for a reason," Laney-Hamilton said. "We took the time to just work on the things that they were doing really well and how we could counter that, but then also just sticking to what we know that we do well and not deviating from that, but continuing to
grind it through."

Laney-Hamilton put in 20 points, most of it built on a 4-of-6 output from three-point range, for her first double-decalogue since July 6. She also worked in the Liberty's dominant defensive effort, one that held Minnesota scoreless over the final 3:40.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

"We believe in her. She knows that," said point guard Sabrina Ionescu, who found Laney-Hamilton in the corner for the last of her four treys, one that tipped off the 12-0 run to close the game. "This was a huge game. She played a huge role in the game ending up the way that it did and she's going to continue to do it for these next two games, we know that."

Securing New York's first postseason title would mean just a little more to Laney-Hamilton, who is well-used to tri-state area triumphs thanks to her time at Rutgers. Behind only the 2020 draftee Ionescu, Laney-Hamilton is the longest-tenured member on the Liberty roster as a 2021 entrant. Some of her earliest efforts came in front of sparse crowds created by a trickling return to normalcy amidst COVID-19 restrictions and adjusted playoff schedules.

To put that into perspective, 1,139 fans watched Laney-Hamilton put up 30 points in the opener to the 2021 season against Indiana. On Sunday, 18,040 took in Laney-Hamilton's latest example of two-way mastery, a Barclays Center record.

"The fans, they've been sticking out with us, and we just been continuing to grow and grow and grow," Laney-Hamilton said on Sunday. "I was here the first season that we were in Barclays, and, you know, due to COVID restrictions and just the placement of the team, we didn't have this crowd. But people continue to stick with us, and then we continue to grow. We owe it to them to go out and just give it our all."

That certainly hasn't been an issue for Laney-Hamilton, who has worked through several medical woes to make it this far. Her mid-summer antics were mostly wiped out due to a knee procedure just before the All-Star/Olympic break and she later endured some friendly fire from Jonquel Jones in a September win over Las Vegas.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

New York's headliners, however, seem well-aware that a hobbled Laney-Hamilton can provide on-court fury that many at full strength can't come close to matching.

"I think what B brings is this grit, this toughness," Breanna Stewart said. "All of us know, she's giving us whatever she's got, and the way that she continued to be aggressive, they were going under on her and she knocked that thing down with confidence, got into the paint, drive, and kicks. But that's what we're used to. We know she can do this and happy to see her get into a good rhythm with everything that's been up and down this season and know that she's a big factor in everything we do."

"She's going to play through things," guard Courtney Vandersloot noted. "She's obviously feeling some things physically, and she's still picking up full court. I think that's a testament to who she is."

New York has a chance to get one game away from an elusive championship on Wednesday in Game 3 at Target Center (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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