– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — It was only fitting that, on the last day of Leo season, Leonie Fiebich, an underrated yet key role player on a WNBA champion just two seasons ago, returned to the New York Liberty lineup and made up for lost time quickly while also providing a glimpse of what the team can become during the time of the Virgos.
Fiebich scored 20 points on her return from injury, helping the Liberty to a 109-102 victory over the Indiana Fever inside Barclays Center on Saturday night. Breanna Stewart scored 22 points to lead the Liberty, who led for most of the game before having to hold off a fourth-quarter rally from Indiana after it had tied the game not too long after being down by 10 earlier in the period.
Playing in her first game since July 3 due to a foot injury, Fiebich shot 7-of-10 from the field, with her final made basket coming on an old-fashioned three-point opportunity when she made a layup with 57.5 seconds remaining to give the Liberty a 103-100 lead. Though she missed the ensuing free throw, Fiebich grabbed the offensive rebound.
Fiebich also had five rebounds and five assists.
As has been the case for most of the summer, a visit from the Fever came with much political fanfare outside and inside the arena. Outside of the excitement generated from an appearance by Caitlin Clark, demonstrators on both sides of the trans women in sports debate appeared in front of the arena before the game and the mixed yet vociferous reactions from the crowd for Fever guard Sophie Cunningham — whose published comments last month opposing transgender girls from participating in women’s sports — were prevalent every time she touched the ball and when her name was announced.
Indiana played from behind all game long, and were down 91-81 just two minutes into the fourth before mounting their comeback. Kelsey Mitchell, who scored 15 points in the first three quarters, poured in 10 in the final frame, including a three-pointer after a Cunningham steal and pass that tied the game at 100 with 1:44 remaining. Mitchell extended her WNBA record of consecutive games scoring at least 20 points to 22 games.
Clark scored 21 points with seven assists, yet missed two crucial free throws with 24 seconds left with the Fever down 105-100. Aliyah Boston had 22 points while Cunningham finished with 10 points and five assists in 27 minutes. Both Clark and Mitchell went 5-for-8 from the field in the second half, and though the Fever shot 61.1 percent from the field after halftime, they allowed the Liberty to shoot 58.1 percent during the same stretch.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Vinnie Lucia. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 31 pictures in total.
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