Aside from wearing a No. 30 aqua blue and black New York Liberty jersey, Breanna Stewart looked like she never left Seattle, the place she used to call home.
After muted applause from the Climate Pledge Arena fans drowned out a smattering of boos during player introductions, Stewart tallied 25 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and two steals to defeat her former team, the Storm, 86-78 on Tuesday night.
“Stewie does what Stewie does,” said Storm guard Kia Nurse who played two years with Stewart at the University of Connecticut.
Certainly, the Storm has seen this type of display from Stewart, who spent seven seasons with Seattle before bolting in free agency to New York.
“I feel like it was hard for her today a little bit,” Storm coach Noelle Quinn said. “We’ve seen the runs that Stewie can get on. Today was a little bit tougher because we schemed a little bit differently than the last couple of teams that schemed against her.”
For 20 minutes, the Storm’s defensive game plan on Stewart worked to near perfection while holding her to eight points at halftime, which was a monumental feat considering she entered the game averaging 26 points and exploded for 45 points 10 days ago against the Indiana Fever.
But Stewart got going in the third quarter, scoring 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting. Late in the period, she sized up Ezi Magbegor, drove to the middle and sank an off-balance floater from midrange that beat the shot clock.
Stewart was bumped to the floor on the play and her subsequent free throw capped the Liberty’s 13-3 run that expanded their 53-50 lead to 66-53 with 2:20 left in the third. Seattle never got closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Stewart scored seven points during the decisive spurt.
“She’s pretty special,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said before the game. “We’re very lucky to have her in New York. I know she’s coming home and hopefully everyone here appreciates what she did for this team for many years and hopefully she can do the same for ours.
“There’s so many things I love about Stewie. She’s a champion. She’s a winner and she’s a leader, but she’s so selfless. She wants to play basketball the right way. People follow her, but she knows how to help people elevate their game as well. It’s been fun. This is the first time I’ve coached Stewie, but it feels like I’ve coached her for a while. It’s just been really easy and that’s nice.”
Nothing came easy for the Liberty against an undersized Storm team that refused to be bullied inside by New York’s towering frontcourt.
Seattle finished with more rebounds (35-32) and second-chance points (14-8) and had fewer turnovers (7-13). But the Liberty shot 49.1% from the field while the Storm was 38.4%.
“The best player in the world was on the floor,” said Quinn, referring to Stewart, when asked the difference between the teams. “Honestly, when you have a team with multiple deadly offensive weapons, sometimes your defense just isn’t good enough. You’re there on the catch and they make great shots.”
With Stewart leading the way, the Liberty (3-1) overwhelmed the Storm with a star-studded lineup that included Sabrina Ionescu (20 points and six rebounds), former Gonzaga player Courtney Vandersloot (11 assists) and backup center Stefanie Dolson (10 points and five assists).
“From their first five to even the players coming off the bench, everyone has an ability to impact that game on both sides of the floor so it presents a huge challenge,” Quinn said. “Tonight is about playing into our scout. Executing our scout as best as possible. We know that it’s a load to stop these All-Stars and we have to be committed to staying focused on both ends of the floor.”
Jewell Loyd led the Storm in scoring for the third straight game and finished with a game-high 26 points on 9-for-16 shooting. Magbegor chipped in 12 points and 14 rebounds and Sami Whitcomb connected on three three-pointers for 11 points off the bench.
Still, it wasn’t enough to prevent the Storm from starting the season 0-3 for the first time since 2014, when they finished 12-22.
“Obviously, it has been a tough start, but our mentality is we want to win,” Magbegor said. “We don’t want to have that moral victory of just staying within 10 or staying within five. When we do get that first win, I think it will be important for us in terms of confidence. We go out to win every game. That’s just our mindset.”
The Storm trailed 14-8 when Quinn made her first substitution and swapped center Mercedes Russell with rookie forward Jordan Horston to comprise a small-ball lineup that pushed Magbegor into the post against Jonquel Jones.
New York quickly built a 21-12 lead with less than three minutes left in the first quarter and was seemingly poised for an early knockout considering Seattle lost control of its previous two outings late in the opening period.
But the Storm answered with an 8-2 run to cut their deficit to 23-20 just before the quarter ended.
Seattle stayed within striking distance in the second period and took a 35-34 lead before being outscored 12-4 to end the first half and went into halftime down 46-39.
Quinn believes the Storm has made significant improvement since their 41-point loss in the season opener.
“We’ve gotten better,” she said. “We’re three games in with a young and new group. Every single game we’ve learned more. We kept our turnovers low. We outrebounded them. We shot a little better the last game, but once we put together the defense and offense, the chemistry and synergy, then a month from now we will be a lot better.
“As long as we continue to compete and play hard and hold that standard, then good things will happen.”
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