While many were hopeful with the pleasant delusion that the win streak to begin the Liberty’s 2025 season would reach September. However, after injury has plagued two of the team’s three stars, the last month and a half of the first half have seen this once indestructible team fall from the heavens and back to earth with the rest of the league. Once the team’s schedule started to toughen up, they were still playing competitive ball, but with the rigor of playing regularly mixed with fatigue from the packed beginning of the season, they suffered their first loss against the Indiana Fever about half way through June, the game in which the Fever’s star came back from injury and dropped 32 points. Once they endured that first loss, they then faced one of the best teams in the league this year, the Phoenix Mercury, and also suffered the devastating blow of losing Jonquel Jones (who, from that moment, just returned a little over a week ago). From then, they’ve been playing some of the strongest, most versatile teams in the league, clearly giving this injury-ridden team a run for their money; however, like many saw at the beginning of the season, when healthy, the Liberty Starting Five have been a force.

Top performers of the night 💪

On to the next one 👉#SEAFOAMSZN | #LIGHTITUPNYL🗽 pic.twitter.com/WxVeupiP3D

— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) July 31, 2025

Any WNBA fan probably knows the Liberty’s franchise player, Power Forward Breanna Stewart, and many categorize Sabrina Iounescu as the Robin to Stewie’s Batman; however, after watching this team throughout the first half, it’s become evident that the duo who really drives this offense as a unit are Stewart and Jones. No question, Stewart is more of the team’s muscle, and Jones is the mastermind who effortlessly orchestrates the beginning of each play, especially after an offensive rebound from a missed basket. While Jones was injured, it was clear that the muscles were still moving. Stewart, Iounescu, and Natasha Cloud all still put up significant numbers in terms of the legitimate stats, but the regular “hum” of the team moving as one was missing, in addition to Jonquel’s towering 6’6 frame. JJ returned from her ankle injury on July 22nd, a 98-84 Liberty win over the Indiana Fever, in which Jones had the highest points per game and rebounds per game with eighteen and nine, respectively. The “core four” were reunited just in time to extend the team’s win streak to five with two more wins, another over the Fever, and a win over the Mercury, which wasn’t pretty but was much needed with a playoff-like atmosphere throughout the entirety of Barclays Center.

Their win streak and the good times abruptly ended, however, when team captain, Breanna Stewart, sustained a right knee bone bruise early in the first quarter of the 101-99 loss against the LA Sparks, which began the team’s three-game losing skid. After the team’s coach, Sandy Brondello, announced Wednesday via ESPN that Stewart will miss an indefinite time, posing a massive obstacle in this last leg of the regular season. With just eighteen games left, the team is still in first place of the Eastern Conference with a 17-9 record; however, it’s worrisome because, as made evident in the 92-82 loss to the Dallas Wings, and the first-half finale’s Finals rematch against the Minnesota Lynx, this new iteration of the Liberty lineup, one without Stewart, looks like a team who is missing their legs, yet is still trying to run the New York Marathon.

Another dawg just touched down in BK!🔥 pic.twitter.com/IQe0wsGTkt

— New York Liberty (@nyliberty) August 1, 2025

The “next woman up” mentality, which significantly highlights Sabrina’s magnetic shot, Jonquel Jones, and gives Isabelle Harrison and Marine Johannès more playing time as starters, works in a pinch, but isn’t ideal. Going into August and the second half of the season, with the postseason on everyone’s mind and no knowledge of when the team’s franchise player is going to return, the Liberty’s front office needed to do something. As of eleven this morning, they did just that as they announced the free agent acquisition of Emma Meesseman, a former WNBA Finals MVP and a highly accomplished international player. This acquisition allows Jonquel Jones to step into the Power Forward role fully until Stewart’s return, and Meesseman can be the team’s starting Center, allowing JJ to return to her position upon Stewart’s return. To clear a spot for Meesseman, the Libs decided to waive second-year Guard, Jaylyn Sherrod, who seemed to lose her place on the roster regardless, with the team’s two starters Iounescu and Natasha Cloud set to headline the team together for at least a few more years, especially with Johannès and Rebekah Gardner also still on the roster as well.

While Stewart’s presence on the court is undeniably missed, the addition of the veteran former Washington Mystic certainly will reinforce this new approach to the Liberty’s offense. Meesseman was the target of a bidding war among the WNBA’s top contenders, as she chose New York over Minnesota and Phoenix. Cheryl Reeve, the outspoken head coach of the Minnesota Lynx, bluntly declared that Meesseman “made the wrong choice” before the Finals rematch last Wednesday. The vet is set to appear on a WNBA floor for the first time since 2022 tonight as she makes her seafoam debut for Liberty as they face the Connecticut Sun in part one of a weekend doubleheader in Uncasville. Tune in tonight at 7:30 on ION to see if the Liberty’s second half can be as successful as the team’s start at the beginning of the 2025 season.