New York Liberty’s chemistry on and off the court has helped put them at top of the WNBA standings

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Liberty have been building chemistry on and off the court and it’s paid off in a big way. They are the team sitting atop the WNBA standings.

New York has won nine of its last 10 games, including all but one of is post-Olympic contests and holds a three-game lead over Connecticut heading into Tuesday’s games in the race for the No. 1 seed.

Olympian and All-Star Breanna Stewart credits the Liberty’s success to accountability.

“We’ve built a level of trust where we can dissect the harder things, talk it through and nobody’s going to take it personally,” she said. That just translates to the court. We all are motivated to have team success and be better than we were last year.”

Last season for New York, the Liberty’s first with Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot on the roster, ended in the WNBA Finals with a loss to the Las Vegas Aces.

“Having more time under our belt,” Stewart said, “the moments that could get really tough and go the other way, we kind of embrace that a little bit more.”

The team also has spent more time this season off the court together, including going to dinners together. Stewart said that has helped further strengthen their bonds.

Stewart knows what it takes to win WNBA championships, capturing two of them with Seattle.

“The championship teams are having fun, a lot of fun on the court, and we’re having fun even when things aren’t going our way,” she said. “Sometimes you got to just smile.”

Vandersloot won a championship in Chicago and sees similarities between the Liberty and the Sky. She missed time to be with her mom before she died and other key players like Betnijah Laney and Sabrina Ionescu have also missed games. But other players stepped up in their absences.

“We rely on our superstars as much as the next team, but we have other players that can make plays and help us win games,” Vandersloot said. “That will help us in the long run.”

AP WNBA poll

New York remains in the top spot in this week’s AP WNBA power poll followed by Minnesota, Connecticut and Las Vegas. Seattle, Indiana and Phoenix were next with Chicago and Atlanta eighth and ninth. Washington, Dallas and Los Angeles rounded out the poll.

Caitlin corner

Caitlin Clark had another solid week, averaging 21 points, six rebounds and 7.5 assists to help Indiana split a pair of games. The Fever lost in Minnesota as Clark witnessed the jersey retirement ceremony of her idol Maya Moore. The Fever have a busy week with games against Connecticut, Chicago and Dallas. Indiana’s 14-16 record is already the most wins the team has had since the 2016 season when the Fever finished 17-17.

Strong Ratings

A’ja Wilson‘s last-second shot to lift the Las Vegas Aces over the Chicago Sky helped make that game the third most-viewed WNBA contest ever with 1.22 million viewers. It trailed only Fever-Sky game on June 16 and the New York-Indiana game on July 6. It was the 19th game this season to average over a million viewers — seven more than the previous record set in 1997.

Rookie Impact

Angel Reese has had three consecutive games with at least 20 rebounds, while also tying the WNBA mark for most double-doubles by a rookie with 22. The Chicago Sky’s first-year player matched the rookie total set by Tina Charles in 2010, when she was with Connecticut. The overall WNBA double-double record for a season is 28 by Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas, set last season. Los Angeles’ Rickea Jackson became the first rookie to ever have 25 points, six 3-pointers and three blocks in the same game — a 113-110 loss to Dallas.

Player of the week

Napheesa Collier earned AP Player of the Week honors as she averaged 27 points, 10 rebounds and 3.3 assists to help Minnesota go 3-0.

Game of the week

Indiana at Chicago, Friday. The final regular season meeting of 2024 between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. The Fever have won two of the first three matchups. Both teams are fighting for playoff spots with Indiana trying to move up from sixth place and Chicago trying to hold on to the eighth position.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball