Liberty Weather the Storm in Stewart's Return

For the first time, the Seattle Storm fell victim to a Breanna Stewart showcase, one that guided the New York Liberty to their third straight win.

Breanna Stewart brought her talents to the Pacific Northwest for the 84th time in her WNBA career on Tuesday night. For the first time, however, cheers failed to follow.

Tuesday saw Stewart face her original WNBA employers, the Seattle Storm, for the first time since she moved east to join the New York Liberty. Her efforts helped the Liberty break through a sloppy effort to earn an 86-78 victory at Climate Pledge Arena. New York (3-1) has won three in a row since dropping the first game of the Stewart era in Washington.

With her former compatriots hungry for a win after dropping their first two, Stewart used familiar dominance to help the Liberty pull away despite losing 13 turnovers and sometimes struggling to match Seattle's speedy pace. Stewart earned a 25-point, 11-rebound double-double, primarily sustained with 10 and six each in the third quarter. Sabrina Ionescu put on a showcase from the outside, hitting 6-of-10 from three-point range en route to a season-best 20 points. Courtney Vandersloot was fruitless on five attempts from the field but dished out 11 assists.

Though the returning Marine Johannés did not play, New York's relief trio of Stef Dolson, Nyara Sabally, and Kayla Thornton united for 26 points. Thornton had nine of that tally to go with two blocks and a steal while Dolson had 10 and five assists.

Seattle (0-3), working through the departures of both Stewart and the retired Sue Bird, has dropped its opening trio for the first time since 2014. Leftover Jewell Loyd had 26 points in defeat while Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello's Australian protégé had a double-double of her own. New York will return to Seattle for a rematch on July 2.

A de facto homecoming tour for the Liberty continues on Friday night when they return to Vandersloot's former stomping grounds in Chicago, the first half of a home-and-home with the 2021 champions (6 p.m. ET, Ion). 

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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