New York Liberty: Three stars from Tuesday’s loss at Minnesota

The Minnesota Lynx shut down the New York Liberty’s illustrious outside attack, dooming them to their eighth loss in the last nine games.

Kayla McBride and Napheesa Collier united for 46 points for the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday night, with the former’s 25 leading the way in a 74-66 victory over the New York Liberty.

The reeling New Yorkers (11-17) have now lost eight of their last nine as they enter the homestretch of the 2021 WNBA season. Minnesota (16-9) shut down the Liberty’s renowned outside game, holding them to a 21 percent success rate (5-of-24). It was part of a brutal night from the field overall, as the Liberty shot 32 percent (23-of-71) on the evening, their third-worst output of the season.

The Liberty nonetheless leave Target Center as the owners of the WNBA’s eighth and final playoff spot thanks to a Los Angeles loss to Indiana and Washington’s defeat at the hands of Connecticut. New York returns to action on Thursday night against the Seattle Storm (10 p.m. ET, YES/Amazon Prime)

ESM bestows three game balls from this latest defeat…

3rd Star: Kylee Shook

6 points (3-3 FG), 2 rebounds

Shook was the only New Yorker to shoot in the black, hitting some big doubles under the basket to help the Liberty keep pace. The sophomore’s development has remained a priority for the Liberty, even with Natasha Howard coming back and the team trying to wrap up an elusive playoff berth. She capitalized in her 11 minutes of action on Tuesday.

2nd Star: Betnijah Laney 

17 points, 3 rebounds

Obviously, no one in New York would say no to a playoff berth, but a postseason appearance would mean a little bit more to Laney. The Rutgers alumna and the Liberty’s leading scorer has accomplished much over the last two seasons, but the accomplishment of appearing amongst the league’s final eight has remained elusive. She believes that the team will be well-equipped for the final run if they focus on the immediate future.

“I think right now the most important thing for us is really just focusing on taking a game by game, step by step, to not get too far ahead of ourselves, not thinking big picture right now,” Laney has said of the Liberty regaining their focus during the losing streak at the worst possible time. “I think that we really need to just focus on what’s in front of us.”

1st Star: Michaela Onyenwere

11 points, 10 rebounds

Though the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year frontrunner was not immune to the Liberty’s shooting struggles (3-of-12, 2-of-7 from three-point range), she made personal and team history through her first professional double-double. With her performance on the boards, Onyenwere became the ninth rookie in team history to reach double-figures in rebounds in a single game.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags