NY Liberty SHOCKINGLY Off Their Game: 'Worst Game Of The Season'

The No. 3 seed Connecticut Sun took Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals against the No. 2 seed New York Liberty in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday afternoon. Trailing by three points at the half, the Sun upset the Liberty 78-63.

The Sun went 0-4 against the Liberty during the regular season, giving the Liberty their first loss of the postseason. Both teams are hoping for their first championship. This is the Liberty's first semifinal appearance since 2015, and the Sun's fifth consecutive year making it to the semifinals.

"That was their worst game of the season, but we've got great players, and we will have to respond in the right way," said Sandy Brondello, head coach of the Liberty. "It's a great challenge for us."

Sun head coach Stephanie White called this game performance, "probably the most consistent 40 minutes that we've played all year."

The Liberty only made eight of 27 threes and were outscored in the paint 34-22. Only four of those points happened in the second half of the game.

The Liberty finished on 33.8% shooting from the field, 29.6% from three and 75% at the free throw line. Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Sabrina Ionescu all finished with double-digit scoring - Stewart with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists, Jones with 14 points, a game-high 11 rebounds and two blocks, and Ionescu with 12 points, and a pair of rebounds on 50% from beyond the arc.

For the Sun, DeWanna Bonner finished with a game-high 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Rebecca Allen had 18 points and seven rebounds.

The sold-out crowd for the first game of the WNBA semifinals in Barclays Center was high energy and ready for a memorable event. Everyone brought the excitement and noise for the much anticipated first game of the semifinals. Everyone was given a Liberty semifinals towel to wave during the game, and at many points throughout the game, everyone did just that.

Liberty fans were pumped as their team was up three points at the half after trailing by four in the first quarter. Lola Brooke, a well-known rapper from Brooklyn, took to the court to perform her hit, "Don't Play With It."

Looking for a win from Game 2 on Tuesday, Brondello said they "can't lose two at home."

"My messaging is Okay, we just lost at home, we can't lose two at home. I mean, that's it. That's what it comes down to. We've got to win this next game," Brondello told her team after the Game 1 loss. "This is our knockout game. And we've got to bring energy, whatever we need to do, we've got to make sure that we stay together most importantly. We've lost the game, but we can make changes and we've got to all stay together and believe that we can get this done."

Game 2 of the semifinals will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. Rapper Remy Ma will be performing at halftime. Game 3 of the best-of-five series will take place in Connecticut, as well as Game 4 if necessary. If a Game 5 is needed, they'll be back in Brooklyn.