NEW YORK — All season, the Sky have struggled to overcome fourth-quarter deficits.
Trailing the Liberty by nine entering the fourth Friday was an indication of what was to come. Two minutes into the quarter, the Liberty’s lead had ballooned to 14, and it only got worse from there.
The Liberty led by 23 before handing the Sky an 89-73 loss, dropping their record to 12-17.
“We can’t tolerate a lot of mistakes,” interim coach/general manager Emre Vatansever said. “Our margin of error is so small. When we make mistakes, it affects us for three or four possessions. But we’re working on it.”
Trailing by 14 in the second quarter, the Sky went to their zone defense and cut the Liberty’s lead to two. In the second half, they were a step behind in rotations and allowed the Liberty to shoot 6-for-13 from three.
“If you’re behind against a team like that who can shoot the ball really well, they’re going to get open looks,” said Alanna Smith, who led the Sky with 19 points. “In the second half, they just got too many open looks.”
Former Sky center Stefanie Dolson was back for the Liberty after missing seven weeks with a second-degree right ankle sprain.
In the second quarter, Kahleah Copper picked up back-to-back fouls trying to fight through Dolson’s screens. On the second, Copper led with her shoulder and sent Dolson to the floor. It ended up hurting the Sky when, with five minutes left in the third quarter, Copper was forced to the bench after picking up her fourth foul.
After four consecutive games with 20 or more points, Copper was held to her second-lowest output of the season with just eight points on 3-for-9 shooting and zero free-throw attempts.
As a team, the Sky shot 8-for-9 from the free-throw line.
“We do have to be intentional trying to attack so we can get to the free-throw line because, I mean, it’s easy points,” Courtney Williams said. “You need those to get yourselves going.”
Williams finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The game was evenly matched in every statistical category except two: turnovers and three-point percentage. The Sky gave up 27 points on 19 turnovers, while the Liberty allowed only 10 points on 14 turnovers.
The Sky are shooing 43.8% in their wins this season and 32.6% in their losses. On Friday, they shot 29.2% from deep while allowing the Liberty to shoot 52% from behind the arc. Breanna Stewart had a game-high 21 points with 12 rebounds. Sabrina Ionescu added 19 points and Jonquel Jones 18.
Though they have a loose grip on the final playoff spot, the Sky say they aren’t concerned.
“When you look at the fifth and sixth seeds, you only have three wins [separating us],” Vatansever said. “We’re right there. With 11 games left, there’s still an opportunity there. A lot of winnable games in this league.”
