The WNBA postseason features highlight moments. And with Sandy Brondello’s adjustment prior to Game 1 of her team’s first-round series, the Liberty produced one on their road back to the WNBA Finals.
In her first WNBA playoff game, Leonie Fiebich got the nod to start over five-time All-Star Courtney Vandersloot in Sunday’s 83-69 Game 1 victory over the Atlanta Dream.
The decision looked like the right one from the start: At the 6:47 mark in the first, Fiebich drained a trey to put the Libs up nine and force a Tanisha Wright timeout. Soon after, the German wing disrupted passing lanes — like she did all afternoon — that led to an Atlanta shot-clock violation.
“Nothing phases Leo. It doesn’t matter. And that’s what you love about her,” Brondello said postgame about Fiebich. Throughout the season, Fiebich’s experience playing club basketball in Europe and with the German national team were noted as reasons why the wing performed well in her WNBA rookie season.
That success continued Sunday.
Fiebich left her fingerprints all over the game that put the Libs in position to advance in the best-of-three series and finished with 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. She added in two steals and an assist while making all four of her three-pointers.
“She’s a professional. And that’s what you want,” Brondello added. “So it was never any fear. We knew [Fiebich] would be great.”
Breanna Stewart added 20 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. Sabrina Ionescu contributed 17 points, five assists and five rebounds.
Atlanta’s Ryne Howard scored a team-high 14 points and shot 5-for-14 on the night dealing with Fiebich most of the night. Center Tina Charles recorded 12 points and seven rebounds.
The decision to start Fiebich meant Vandersloot would come off the bench for the first time since 2017 when she suited up with the Chicago Sky. It’s a decision that became more plausible given Fiebich’s effectiveness — on both ends of the floor — starting in place of key players throughout the regular season. And the decision might’ve been much clearer with Brondello opting to keep Vandersloot on the bench in tight regular-season games in 2024.
Vandersloot still logged 16 minutes, but it remains to be seen how much those minutes will dwindle in closer postseason games. She finished with four points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
“Leo has stepped in and been huge for us with injuries and everything,” Vandersloot said. “So the starting lineup, it wasn’t new to her, and I think that you saw that right away. She’s comfortable out there. She fits perfectly with that group. For me, my mentality didn’t change. It was the same. I just wanted to be a spark off the bench.
“It’s definitely new to me… it’s going to take me a second to adjust to this because it is different. I just don’t have that experience, which is fine. It’s going to take some time. But I was really happy for Leo. I think it was a really great adjustment for us. And she was incredible tonight.”
Fiebich’s insertion into the starting lineup came with the No. 8 seed Dream failing to begin Game 1 with the same intensity from Thursday’s regular-season finale win. They failed to contain the Liberty from deep early on, resulting in five treys allowed in the first en-route to a 29-16 deficit to end the opening period. The Liberty, however, ended up shooting 8-of-23 from deep in Game 1.
Then Wright’s team looked overwhelmed in some parts of the second.
Moments after an official timeout, Howard caught an inbounds pass unaware of the short shot clock and got called for a violation. A few possessions later, Jonquel Jones scored on an easy layup then Dream forward Naz Hillmon inbounded the pass right to Fiebich for another easy layup to go up 15 at the 4:17 mark.
Atlanta went into halftime down, 48-30. The Liberty led by as many as 22 points and lost the final two periods, 39-25. The win, which was decided long before the final buzzer, puts the Dream on the brink of elimination after getting the playoff-cinching win in the same building on Thursday night.
The Dream will attempt to stave off elimination in Tuesday’s Game 2 at Barclays Center. And their head coach will have more adjustments to make with another Liberty contributor doing damage on the floor.
