It has been nearly a decade since the Liberty last secured the top seed in the WNBA playoffs, but come this year’s first round, they’ll find themselves in that spot after an 87-71 win over the host Washington Mystics on Tuesday.
The Liberty clinched the No. 1 seed for the first time since 2015 and locked up home-court advantage when the postseason begins on Sunday.
The franchise is still looking for its first WNBA title despite trips to the finals in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2023.
Home court checked off one of the goals that the Liberty had set for themselves, but head coach Sandy Brondello said that there is more to focus on.
“We still have to take care of our business in the playoffs. … We have a great arena. We have great fans, so we want to play in front of our fans as much as we can,” Brondello told reporters.
The Liberty (32-7) have been the best team in the league this year, even tying a franchise record for most wins in a season with one game still left to play.
The team has been anchored by superstar Breanna Stewart, who came up big for them on Tuesday night with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Stewart’s layup with 8:15 remaining in the first quarter gave the Libs a lead they would not relinquish.
Her basket was part of a 10-0 run, and the Liberty put up 29 points in the opening quarter to take early control of the game.
Washington (13-26) pulled within seven points on Stefanie Dolson’s 3-pointer, making it 53-46 with 5:58 left in the third quarter.
The Liberty answered with a 19-4 run to extend their lead to 22 points and cement the victory.
Leonie Fiebich scored 13 points for the Liberty and Nyara Sabally put up 12 in the victory, while starters Jonquel Jones and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton contributed 11.
As a team, the Liberty shot 45.3 percent from the floor and 25.8 percent from 3-point range.
The Liberty’s playoff opponent is still to be determined, but they could end up playing the Washington Mystics, Chicago Sky or the Atlanta Dream in the first round.
The Liberty will host their first-round opponent at Barclays Center for Game 1 and Game 2 in the best-of-three series.
The Liberty came up short last season when they lost to the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA Finals in four games.
