Breanna Stewart powers Liberty past Caitlin Clark, Fever as winning streak hits four

Television cameras captured a visibly frustrated Breanna Stewart as she took a seat on the Liberty bench and took a swig from her water bottle Saturday night.

On a night when Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell struggled to score, the Liberty also labored at Barclays Center.

Nothing seemed to go their way.

Layups missed the mark.

The whistles appeared to fluster both sides.

The Fever’s three-point halftime lead swelled to 12 near the six-minute mark of the third quarter.

Then, something happened.

The Liberty decided to fight back.

And, of course, Stewart led the charge.

Stewart scored 15 of her game-high 30 points in the fourth to carry the Liberty to an 83-75 victory — their largest comeback win of the season.

New York closed the gap on the Fever with a 9-0 run to finish the third quarter.

Stewart then drained a free throw at the start of the fourth thanks to an Aliyah Boston technical foul that made it a two-point game.

The Fever did their best to fend off the Liberty as long as they could.

But New York was relentless in pursuit of their fourth straight win.

The Liberty’s defense dictated the offense, helping New York outscore the Fever 29-18 in the fourth quarter.

Saturday’s was an odd game. It started fast and looked like it was going to be an offensive showcase.

The game got clunky.

The Liberty held Clark and Mitchell to a combined 5-for-19 from the field for 15 points in the first half and still found themselves in a three-point hole at the midway point.

Mitchell led the Fever with 21 points.

Clark finished with 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting with nine assists and seven rebounds.

Satou Sabally contributed 13 points and five rebounds for the Liberty.

The Liberty went 4-3 during this homestand and picked up their second Commissioner’s Cup win.