By the time Friday night’s 106-75 Liberty smackdown of the Sun ended, the stat sheet told only part of the story.
Yes, Breanna Stewart packed the box score the way stars of her caliber are expected to. Points. Rebounds. Defensive stops. You name it.
She had the kind of all-around dominant showing that has defined her entire career.
With Sabrina Ionescu sidelined with a foot injury, Satou Sabally out with a cyst and three other players unavailable, the Liberty were left with only seven available players and in a bind. They signed guard Julie Vanloo and forward Aubrey Griffin on hardship contracts less than 24 hours before the season opener.
With a roster in flux and New York wanting to start this season on a strong note, the spotlight burned hotter on the rest of the locker room to step up. To no surprise, it was Stewart who answered the call.
She notched her first double-double of the season, leading all scorers with 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting, along with 10 rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Her impact goes beyond the moments that get clipped into highlights. Stewart is that steady voice respected by all her teammates. She leads with her words and by action.
“Stewie was great all around. In every category across the board, she was great,” Betnijah Laney-Hamilton said. “And so for her, setting the tone, it helps get us motivated and everything, especially with the blocks and all the things and then just the scoring, that’s just what she does.”
Stewart hasn’t shied away from how disappointed she was in how last season ended. She missed a month of the season with a bone bruise in her knee. The Liberty struggled in her absence; her return didn’t immediately fix their issues.
Despite spraining the MCL in her left knee in Game 1 of the first round, Stewart still managed to be the best player on the floor in that series.
Nevertheless, the Liberty were bounced too early in the playoffs for her liking. She watched the WNBA Finals from the couch.
She returned this season healthy and eager.
“I’m feeling back to myself, for sure, so I think it’s just being aggressive,” Stewart said. “I’m not chasing an MVP or anything like that, but I just want to be my best and I want to be great every single year that I’m playing.”
She was great Friday and established the expectation for the team.
The Sun weren’t the scariest opponent to open the season against. Connecticut is a young team — all but three of their players were born in the 2000s — and is expected to miss the playoffs again.
But the Liberty wanted to make a point from the jump, and Stewart led that charge.
Stewart was one of the players who thrived with the space she was working with in Chris DeMarco’s revamped offense.
She scored 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting in the first quarter. She eclipsed 30 points for the game — a mark she reached only two times last season, including in Game 3 of the first-round series.
Jonquel Jones believes the Liberty’s improved floor spacing contributed to Stewart’s big performance.
“[The spacing] just feels good,” Jones said. “And you can kind of see the paint being open and you know where people are going to move and so it’s like… even if a defender is able to stop you or someone helps, you know what the next option is going to be and you know that your teammates are going to be there for you.
“And I think it gives us an extra level of calm, a level of confidence to be able to go in and attack and just play the game the way that she played tonight, which was exceptional.”
Championship teams are built around stars capable of setting standards others can follow.
That standard, established by Stewart on Friday, was impossible to miss.
