Liberty give uninspiring performance in not-so-easy win over last-place Sun

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The Liberty captured their fifth straight win Monday, beating the last-place Sun 89-80.

The win, though, didn’t inspire much confidence.

Two days after Breanna Stewart called out the team for going through the motions, the Liberty seemed to do it again for most of Monday’s game.

It should’ve been an easy win. The young, two-win Sun played without Brittney Griner, Aneesah Morrow and others. The Liberty should’ve put the game away early and cruised to the end.

But nothing seems to come easy for New York.

It started with Jonquel Jones being a late scratch after she fell ill between warmups and tipoff.

Then, the game started.

During a stretch of the season when point differential matters because of the Commissioner’s Cup, the Liberty didn’t bring a consistent attack. They should’ve punched first, put the game away and ridden into the sunset.

Instead, the Sun managed to keep it a single-digit game for the majority of the fourth quarter.

In the end, the Liberty won, and that’s what counts. But they should’ve been more dominant.

Stewart led the way with 28 points and nine rebounds, marking the sixth game this season she’s recorded at least 20 points.

With Jones sidelined, Han Xu earned her first career start. She scored seven of her 14 points in the fourth quarter and had six rebounds.

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton contributed 11 points and five rebounds off the bench.

Spanish rookie Raquel Carrera logged her most minutes (13) of the season. She joined Satou Sabally and Laney-Hamilton when they checked into the game near the midway point of the first quarter.

Carrera, who had logged fewer than two minutes in her only two appearances this season, played well for the most part. She looked lost at times and was still trying to find her rhythm within the Liberty’s flow offense. But she finished with seven points and five rebounds.

The Liberty outscored the Sun by six points in the third quarter and led by nine entering the fourth. Diamond Miller’s 3-pointer early in the final quarter cut New York’s lead to six.

The Sun never stopped trying to claw their way back in, but were ultimately unsuccessful.

Turnovers continue to be a problem for the Liberty, who logged 19 Monday. Luckily for New York, the Sun struggled to capitalize on the giveaways.