WNBA FINALS: MINNESOTA VS. NEW YORK

October 10, 2024

Sandy Brondello

Breanna Stewart

Jonquel Jones

New York Liberty

Game 1: Postgame

Minnesota Lynx 95, New York Liberty 93 (OT)

Q. Stewie, obviously it was not the outcome you guys wanted. How do you regroup for Game 2 with so many emotions, I'm guessing, for that game when you were up a lot, got down and all that went on in the last five minutes?

BREANNA STEWART: We just take it on the chin, you know. We were up a lot and then we had a wild kind of sequence to end the fourth. Didn't start overtime great. I had a great look at the end and I didn't make it.

But I think that this is a series. We wanted to really win, obviously, for home court. But the beauty is, we have another game on Sunday and we'll be ready.

Q. Is there one or two things that you could point to say, hey, if we do this, or that, that result is different?

SANDY BRONDELLO: Yeah, it's probably a lot of things. I could probably give you a better answer tomorrow. I just thought we went away from our principles of play. I think we had a great first quarter, and then they lifted up the energy and they outhustled us.

I think we forced some of the action. We weren't moving it good enough. We couldn't get downhill as much. You know, we missed a lot of shots. We missed a lot of shots.

Just the principles of play for us. How we want to play, get to the next action.

But look, defensively, I think they executed better than us. That's what it came down to. They executed better than us. They found a way to win. They made some big shots, timely shots when they needed to.

We're disappointed. We have to be better. We're a better team than what we showed today.

Q. Jonquel had a double-double in this game, and there's been a stat about whenever she has a double-double, you guys win. I guess I'm just curious why you thought you weren't able to get it done with the performance that she had, and how do you all, I guess, help her better in Game 2?

BREANNA STEWART: I mean, I think it's pretty clear, JJ had an amazing game, and the way that she was aggressive from start to finish is exactly what we need.

I think that we got a lot of looks. Like, 90 shots is a lot, and we missed them. I think just coming out and understanding the game plan a little bit better, and always being on our front foot. I felt like there was just a few situations, time and score toward the end of the game, that really hurt us. But collectively there's a lot of things that you could kind of look at and be like, well, this is one of the reasons why we lost.

Q. What was your message to the team in the locker room after a game like that? And the issues over the final five minutes of the game, do you think it's something that Minnesota did differently or are these fixable issues all on your end?

SANDY BRONDELLO: Yeah, look, I think they took us out of what we wanted to run. They were really aggressive. They were blowing up stuff. We couldn't get clear passes. We tried to go downhill and they would stunt and get back, and we just got a little bit stagnant. Then we had obviously -- I thought we were slow. We were up so you're trying to move the ball, but then we are slow in our speed, execution speed, and then it was making it easy for them.

And they made plays. They made plays down the other end. Obviously we contested it -- we give them a three, a four-point play. Those things, they can break your back, and they did. We had our opportunities to win and we didn't finish it.

We're disappointed. We have to go back to work. We have to freshen up. We have to look at how we can be better, and it's really just principles of play. Things that we have been great at all season long, we have to just refocus on them.

Q. I guess as you replay the end of this game, what play maybe is more frustrating or disappointing, the missed free throw at the end of regulation or what happened on that final shot in overtime?

BREANNA STEWART: I think the missed free throw because we had an opportunity to go up one. But even still, at the end of overtime, I had probably one of my cleanest looks. Didn't make it.

Q. Jonquel, you got off to a really hot start and finished really strong. Did you find them making any adjustments or doing in the middle of the game?

JONQUEL JONES: I mean, they switched with us a little bit more to stop us from going downhill. I don't know, I think the weight of the game was more about us, like Sandy said, getting away from our principles versus what they did to kind of get us out of rhythm.

Q. Sabrina had a little bit of a tough game tonight. What was difficult about the way they were guarding her and how can you get her going more for Game 2?

SANDY BRONDELLO: Yeah, look, I think they were throwing different coverages at her, with the switching and she was trying to go probably a little bit too much one-on-one early. We've just got to move the ball and trust that the ball will come back to her in that regard and exploit it.

We had a tough night. We had a tough shooting night. We all did. But what I know, Sabrina is a competitor. She'll get ready for Game 2 and come back strong.

Q. How does the way this game ended motivate you for the second game?

BREANNA STEWART: Listen, I want to be taking these shots. I feel like knowing my teammates and that everyone has confidence in me is important. It's kind of like on to the next and still making sure I'm aggressive any time on the court. Obviously as a player, it's very frustrating. But bounce back for Game 2.

Q. 20 offensive rebounds as a team tonight. Although it doesn't go your way in the end, how is that something you can build off for Game 2 and the rest of the series?

JONQUEL JONES: It was a point of emphasis for us coming into the game, just to control the rebounding and really get on the boards and try to exploit them in that way. It's something that we're going to have to continue to do to be successful.

But like Stewie and Coach said, we had a lot of opportunities to close the game out. A few things that we have to change and kind of be aware of moving forward, but still some things to build upon and things to learn from.

Q. Coach, you talk about the principles of play and how the pace you played with to start this game really affected them so much, and then your rebounding. Those elements there, are those the elements where you say to yourself, these are the elements where we can reverse this and have the domination that you had early in this game to continue on?

SANDY BRONDELLO: Yeah, a hundred percent. It's principles of plays at both ends. Being at the point of the screen, Kayla McBride is coming off and shooting it, and then letting them go downhill, pressuring and letting Hiedeman dribble by us and giving them too many easy looks where we should have been just a little bit smarter in our defense there.

Sometimes when we didn't rebound or we kind of -- we went to offensive rebound but we are out of position and they got easy layups in transition. So those really break your back.

Principles of play in the half court. Pace is there, but I think we got a little stagnant and a little tired. But credit to them. They were blowing us up and they were being really physical. They were very active. They were switching it, and then that took us out of it a little bit. We've got to be better and we will be better.

Q. You've been an excellent free throw shooter your whole career. Can you talk about, are those the hardest to make, less than a second left, the game on the line, is it hard to just focus on your process and not anything else mentally get in the way?

BREANNA STEWART: Yeah, I think it's, specifically to that play because they were reviewing the time, you're just focusing on making the shot. Making the first one. Making the first one. Making the first one.

And then the second one, the same. It's when you want to be thinking about nothing else. It definitely sucks to miss.

Q. Despite the loss, you guys had a really strong start. What positives can you take away from this game?

SANDY BRONDELLO: I think just the start we did have. We put up 32 points. We were very intentional playing defense. We were making it really hard for them to score. Some easy baskets. We were making shots and moving the ball really quick.

But they went to another level. So they kind of took us out of a rhythm. Not surprised us. We knew what they are capable of doing. But we've got to get back and just play Liberty basketball.