Breanna Stewart leads Liberty’s opening night shellacking of Sun

With 16 seconds left, the Barclays Center crowd rose to its feet Friday night. White rally towels that resemble the Liberty’s original uniforms from 30 years ago waved throughout the stands. And the Liberty Loyal didn’t stop cheering until the final buzzer sounded. 

The Liberty opened the Chris DeMarco era with a resounding 106-75 victory and plenty to celebrate. 

Friday’s season opener was as much about making a statement that the Liberty are back and better after a failed title defense last fall as it was about starting fresh and opening a new chapter. 

The Liberty wanted to cement their identity and establish a solid foundation. 

“I think we did that tonight,” Jonquel Jones said. 

The Liberty overwhelmed the young, rebuilding Sun from the jump. 

New York dropped 36 points in the first 10 minutes — more than the team scored in any single quarter last season — and took a 26-point lead after the first quarter. 

They poured in another 30 points over the next 10 minutes to take a 66-37 lead into halftime. 

Everything seemed to go according to plan. 

“We wanted to punch first knowing that this is a season opener, home opener, a lot of different things, a lot of different people here, some familiar people here,” Breanna Stewart said. “This is us turning the page … and focusing on what we have now, making sure that we start the season strong.” 

New York spent part of training camp trying to temper early-season expectations. 

After all, New York had a new coach and several new players, including marquee free agent signing Satou Sabally. DeMarco totally overhauled the Liberty’s lackluster offense and worked to reignite the defensive intensity that was a trademark of the 2024 title team. 

They said they weren’t trying to win May but rather wanted to incrementally build over the course of the season. 

But the Liberty — despite missing five players, including starters Sabrina Ionescu and Sabally — came out and destroyed the Sun. 

The Liberty had contributions from up and down the roster. 

Breanna Stewart had said since she arrived at training camp last month that she felt like herself again. On Friday, she showed it. 

Stewart notched the first double-double of the season. She led all scorers with 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. Stewart also had three blocks, including one where she chased down Diamond Miller. 

Three other starters finished in double-figure scoring, including Marine Johannes, who added 17 points and went 5-for-9 from deep. 

Julie Vanloo, whom the Liberty signed to a hardship contract Friday morning, offered a surprise boost off the bench, finishing with 12 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists. 

There will be plenty of game balls to hand out after the fact. 

Pauline Astier and Aubrey Griffin scored their first WNBA points, and Stewart eclipsed 6,000 career points, passing Lauren Jackson for 15th on the league’s all-time scoring list with 6,008. 

DeMarco also received his first official win. 

Asked what memory he’ll take away from Friday, DeMarco said, “Just the pride I had of seeing the crowd going nuts, that first quarter when we were finding great shots, we’re competing, we’re defending. This is exactly why I love this game. It’s why I love to coach, it’s watching the players figure it out and just compete so that’ll be the memory of just watching the crowd going nuts and our players having some success early.” 

Jones marked Friday as a resounding success. 

“We just wanted to be connected, we wanted to have fun,” said Jones, who had 10 points and five rebounds. “And we just wanted to — I mean, it’s no disrespect to [the Sun] or anything like that — but we want to come out there against any team and just have that mindset that nobody can play with us when we’re playing the way that we’re playing and playing at a high level.” 

The scariest part? The undermanned Liberty still have plenty more to show. 

The Liberty are set to hit the road for a three-game trip that starts Sunday in Washington.