The New York Liberty star was wired when she woke up on Friday for Game 3 of the first round of the 2025 WNBA playoffs. She texted her wife, Marta Xargay Casademont, that she was ready and had a lot of bottled-up energy. She needed to move through the day with more calm to rein in her angst and preserve it for the game.

She spoke to reporters that morning with a passion and punch. Her words were filled with frustration after she and the Liberty had gotten blown out by the Phoenix Mercury on their home floor on Wednesday. That was just a few days after she’d sprained her left MCL during Game 1 in Phoenix.

Stewart took issue with Mercury stars Kahleah Copper and Satou Sabally‘s criticism of the fans in Brooklyn and their commitment to supporting the Liberty.

She sounded like she wanted to run through a brick wall at that very moment.

During pregame warmups, there was an extra spring in her step and lift in Stewart’s jumper. The expectation was not only that she would channel that energy into her individual play, but also that her will would power her team.

Stewart hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter, when the Liberty dealt with lots of physicality from the Mercury. And when Stewart and Co. pushed back, they surrendered 10 made free throws to the Mercury on six personal fouls, including two on Stewart.

Only forward Emma Meesseman earned a trip to the line in that first frame. But Stewart ended up taking 15 free throws in the last three quarters. She specifically drove and drew fouls on Sabally and guard/forward DeWanna Bonner, who both struggled immensely to guard the injured Stewart.

When the Liberty were down by as many as 8 points in the fourth quarter, Stewart’s leadership was incredibly demonstrative. She initiated multiple huddles while being forceful in her communication. She used her hands and her head bobbed up and down while she addressed her teammates. Stewart ended up scoring the Liberty’s final 14 points in the 79-73 loss.

“I think what’s going through my mind [is] it’s tough,” Stewart said postgame after the loss. “Only one team gets to feel good at the end of their season, and this year, we weren’t that team. And it really, really hurts, and I think it’ll continue to hurt for days, weeks, months from now.

“But at the same time, [I’m] really proud of the group. This team is more than resilient with all the shit that we’ve gone through this season, and we left it all out there.”

Stewart’s toughness and angst spread to her teammates in both productive and futile ways. It began early, when Copper kicked forward Leonie Fiebich in the ribs less than two minutes into the game. Fiebich was on the ground in pain, and the Liberty had to take an early timeout. Fiebich headed back to the locker room to be examined by the team’s athletic trainers and medical staff, but she checked back into the game with 1:26 left in the first quarter.

Fiebich played through immense pain the rest of the game and didn’t comment on whether she’d broken a rib. “I think you gotta ask the medical staff about that,” she said postgame. “I’m not sure.”

Star guard Sabrina Ionescu, who was a shell of herself in Game 2, responded well. During New York’s pregame shootaround, she continued to deny any illness or issues with her left toe that she injured last month as reasons for her postseason struggles. She promised that she would play better and give more in what ended up being her final game of the season.

Ionescu was at her most competitive, chirping with Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts during the second quarter about the validity of a foul Stewart had drawn. She broke out in the second and third quarters, scoring 20 of her 22 points.

Ionescu let some emotion out with 57 seconds left in the second quarter when she came off a Jonquel Jones screen to hit a 27-foot 3-pointer on the right wing. Once her shot fell through the net, she dropped both arms and flexed in celebration. New York was down just 41-39 at that point.

Ionescu silenced the 13,104 fans in Phoenix with each free throw she made after Copper fouled her early in the third quarter. After being battered around by the physicality of Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas all series long, Ionescu battled back in the fourth quarter and took a charge on one of Thomas’ downhill drives.

The drive to compete that the Liberty were missing on Wednesday had returned in Phoenix on Friday. But Jones struggled to channel her frustrations in effective ways. She only scored 3 points on 1-for-10 shooting. She had eight rebounds but could have had more. The Liberty were outrebounded 49-33.

Jones said postgame that she felt like the Mercury “cat and moused” her and made her think a bit too much.

“They made a concerted effort to really get on the boards against us,” she said. “And even if they weren’t getting the ball … if they had to jump over me to get it, if they had to smack me to get it … whatever it was, they were OK with getting the fouls, and if not, to get the basketball. And it bounced their way tonight.”

Jones’ frustration with how she was guarded and officiated reached a turning point with 39 seconds left in the first half. Ionescu found Jones rolling to the basket, and Jones was smushed by the double-team of Sabally and Copper in the paint. Jones fell to the ground, a jump ball was called, and Jones slammed the ball on the ground in exasperation. Stewart shouted to try to get Jones to take a breather, and guard/forward Kennedy Burke and Ionescu tried to provide support, but all were ignored. Jones was charged with a technical foul.

“I wasn’t trying to get a tech there,” Jones said. “… I was trying to bounce the ball really hard, and then it ended up bouncing too high. I was trying to catch it, and it slipped out of my hands. It is what it is, but at the end of the day, I was trying to get in there for the rebound. It just wasn’t going my way.”

Jones reflected on her performance moments after the game, when she told a group of reporters that if there’s someone to point the finger at, it’s her. But instead of just accepting her fate and moving on, she decided to open up about how she’d been officiated all season. Maybe all this time, she’d been “too nice,” she said.

She did not hold back on Friday night.

“I feel like what everybody else is able to do to me and what I’m able to do to other people, I just don’t feel like it’s even,” she said. “I don’t feel like it’s fairly called. I don’t. I feel like the jump balls that they call against me is the same stuff that I’m doing on the other side, and I’m getting foul calls. I feel like people are shoving me with two hands, and then I try to box out or get a rebound, and it’s a foul on me.”

She continued: “It’s just really frustrating when I’m dealing with a very high level of physicality all night, and then on the other end, like it’s ticky-tacky stuff or things that I feel are happening on the other end that aren’t being called.”

Will the Liberty run it back in 2026?

When Stewart, Ionescu and head coach Sandy Brondello appeared in front of reporters following Friday’s loss, the mood was somber. Stewart’s angst had toned down, but she was still upset that her valiant effort didn’t result in a win.

Stewart described what her previous five days had been like since spraining her MCL. Ionescu turned her head to look at Stewart and listen.

Ionescu had spoken about her admiration for Stewart on Sue Bird‘s “Bird’s Eye View” podcast before the beginning of the 2025 season. The pair had just won a championship together. On Friday, she doubled down on how she feels about playing with Stewart after their bid to repeat had fallen short.

“There isn’t a player who I would admire more and would love to play alongside for the rest of my career than [Stewart],” Ionescu said, “because of how she comes out every single day, for practice, for games, for anything that she takes kind of head on. She owns it, and she’s the best for a reason.”

There is so much uncertainty this offseason regarding the WNBA’s next collective bargaining agreement, and the majority of the league is set to become free agents. But Ionescu and Stewart made their intentions clear.

“Well, I’m coming back,” Stewart said.

Jones, too, spoke about her desire to go for another title in New York.

“For sure,” she said. “I mean we know that our team and the people that we put in our locker room and the chemistry, the foundation of what we want our core to be, is here to stay. We love New York and we want to be able to win more championships here. So yeah, for sure.”

But sadness turned back into anger when Ionescu and Stewart were asked more questions about the team’s future and about who should coach the Liberty in 2026. When a reporter notified the players that there was uncertainty about the Liberty holding season-ending exit interviews with reporters, there was surprise and some glee at first. Ionescu pumped her fist.

But when they heard the question that was asked because of that uncertainty, Stewart couldn’t hold in her frustration.

“What the fuck,” Stewart said after being asked whether Brondello should return in 2026.

Ionescu furrowed her eyebrows, confused by the question. She rolled her eyes and shook her head in disgust.

Brondello, who was sitting next to Stewart and Ionescu and listening to questions about her job security, smiled while she listened to her players defend her.

“I mean, to anybody that kind of questions [Brondello] being here, this is a resilient group, and she has our back, and we have hers,” Stewart said. “And the way that she continued to kind of, I don’t know, deal with the cards she was dealt was incredible. It wasn’t easy for anybody, but she came in every day with a positive attitude and a mindset to put us in our best positions possible and best foot forward.”

While this was a strong statement that could calm fans down after a disappointing season, Stewart and Ionescu also sent a clear message to the Liberty’s front office about the offseason.

“We’re not going to be a team that points fingers,” Stewart said. “There’s a lot of us that could have done better this season, but we’re still going to fight and show up for each other every single day, and I think that’s just the most important part. So we have [Brondello’s] back.”