After a four-game road trip on the West Coast, Betnijah Laney and the New York Liberty (7-7, 3rd in Eastern Conference) returned home to host Candance Parker and the red-hot Chicago Sky (8-7, 2nd in Eastern Conference) for a two-game, home-and-home set. Winners of their last six games, Chicago was able to extend their win streak in Tuesday night’s contest against New York; however, on Thursday, the Liberty return to action to face the Sky again on their annual PRIDE Night looking to close out their home stand with a win.

Last game, New York matched up against a streaking Chicago squad not only on a five-game winning streak, but also undefeated – a perfect 7-0 – with Candace Parker in the lineup. On Tuesday, Betnijah Laney had another solid, all-around performance. The six-foot combo guard dropped a team-high 18 points on an efficient 7-for-12 shooting from the floor. Her 18-point outing was complimented by her five dimes and five boards. Besides Laney, Sami Whitcomb and Jazmine Jones joined in on the scoring effort and were the other two New York players to score in double figures. Moreover, Sabrina Ionescu – once again – stuffed the stat sheet and finished with six points, seven assists, and eight boards.

COACHING CONNECTION

Liberty Head Coach Walt Hopkins and Sky General Manager/Head Coach James Wade previously coached together with the Lynx in 2017, where they served as assistants on Head Coach Cheryl Reeve’s staff and helped lead Minnesota to its fourth WNBA title in seven seasons. Liberty Assistant Coach Shelly Patterson, who spent ten seasons with the Lynx supporting scout preparation, game planning, as well as individual player development, also overlapped with Hopkins and Wade in The Twin Cities.

THEME NIGHT

Thursday night’s contest will be Liberty’s seventh annual PRIDE Night game! See the following press release for more details pertaining to the team’s continued long-standing commitment to uplifting and supporting the LGBTQIA+ community: New York Liberty to Celebrate 7^TH Annual PRIDE Night on June 24.

ALL-TIME SERIES

The Liberty have an all-time winning percentage of .491 against the Sky. In 57 total meetings, they have 28 victories against 29 losses. Given that it’s their last regular-season meeting of the season, Thursday’s contest provides the perfect opportunity for Coach Walt Hopkins’s team to pull even with the Sky in their all-time series.

In order for this to happen, New York will need another big game from Betnijah Laney. As a walking bucket with lethal efficiency, Laney is capable of overtaking the Liberty’s single-game scoring record against Chicago of 31 points that is currently held by Cappie Pondexter, who achieved said feat during the 2010 season. The Liberty will also need another virtuoso playmaking performance from Sabrina Ionescu, who set the franchise’s single-game assist mark of 12 assists against Chicago during their first meeting in May, to get Sami Whitcomb, Rebecca Allen, and the rest of the Liberty’s arsenal of long-range snipers going.

With the team hitting on all cylinders and stymieing Candace Parker on the defensive end, the team has enough top-end talent to prevent Chicago from winning a would-be franchise-record seventh-straight game and even up the all-time series.