For New York native Breanna Stewart, Sunday was always going to be a special day — her first chance to play at home as a member of the Liberty.
And in front of a crowd of 8,575, Stewart put on a show for the ages. The 2018 WNBA MVP broke the Liberty single-game scoring record with 45 points in just 30 minutes on Sunday as the Liberty crushed the Indiana Fever 90-73.
The previous high for the Liberty was Cappie Pondexter’s 40-point effort on July 18, 2010 (humorously, also against Indiana). Remarkably, Stewart passed that number with 2:13 left in the third quarter.
Stewart was fouled on that jumper, too, and made a free throw to get her 42nd point. The Liberty’s next time down on offense, the 6’4 forward sank a 3-pointer to get to 45.
Though she went to the bench for the start of the fourth quarter, Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello brought Stewart back in with just under five minutes left, perhaps as a final push for the WNBA all-time single game record of 53 points (set by Dallas’ Liz Cambage in 2018). But Stewart missed her only shot and was subbed back out a few minutes later.
She’ll have to settle for setting a Liberty single-game record in her first home game for the seafoam-and-black — and her first win with the Liberty.
Her final stats: 45 points on 15-for-21 shooting (6-for-9 from 3-point range) and 9-for-9 from the free-throw line, 12 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.
Our Liberty beat reporter Jackie Powell was inside the Barclays Center for the team’s home opener and will have more on Stewart’s massive day later.