By: Jennifer Portee
5/28/2026
For most of Wednesday night, it felt like the Liberty were still trying to find their rhythm. Then, out of nowhere, everything clicked. Down six midway through the third quarter, New York change things with a run that completely overwhelmed Phoenix. What was once a tight contest turned into a runaway, as the Liberty closed the quarter on a jaw-dropping 23-0 run and never looked back in an 84-74 win.
Marine Johannes was the spark early and often, dropping 21 points and lighting it up from deep. She kept New York afloat in the first half when things weren’t flowing, drilling shot after shot and keeping the pressure on Phoenix’s defense.
But the real shift came later.
With just over six minutes left in the third, head coach Chris DeMarco made an important move, bringing Betnijah Laney-Hamilton back into the mix. From that point on, the energy changed. The defense tightened, the ball started moving, and Jonquel Jones took over in the paint.
Jones scored 10 of her 17 points during that run, bullying her way inside while Phoenix completely lost its momentum. Turnovers piled up, offensive fouls crept in, and for nearly seven minutes, the Mercury simply couldn’t buy a basket.
By the time Monique Akoa Makani finally broke the drought with a corner three in the fourth, it was too late.
Kahleah Copper did what she could, leading Phoenix with 19 points, but the team never fully recovered from that third-quarter collapse. They got within 10 late, but the game had already slipped away.
New York wasn’t even at full strength. Satou Sabally was ruled out just before tipoff due to illness, and Sabrina Ionescu remained sidelined. Still, getting Laney-Hamilton and Leonie Fiebich back in the lineup gave the team a much needed boost, and Johannes made sure that boost counted. She had 15 points by halftime, hitting five threes four of them in the first quarter alone, and finished with seven from beyond the arc. After trailing by one at the break, the Liberty came out of halftime looking like a completely different team. The win finally stopped the slump for New York, pulling them back to an even record, while Phoenix is still trying to figure things out after dropping its fourth in a row.
The quick turnaround? These two teams will see each other again Friday. And if this one proved anything, it’s that momentum can swing fast.