Tag Archives: Basketball

Liberty’s 6th woman rallies to bring a comeback 

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By Bryan R.V.

The New York Liberty were down in the first quarter. Way down. With 1:32 left on the clock, they trailed the Los Angeles Sparks 24-15. L.A. was relentless. When Rae Burall walled off Natasha Cloud from getting into the paint, it seemed like another missed opportunity. But Cloud spun wide and with help from Isabelle Harrison, put up a shot to let it fly. 

Bucket. 

The crowd roared with excitement after witnessing the masterpiece of a play. The sixth woman had arrived. 

Just over 16,000 people were in attendance to watch the Liberty, one of the best teams in the league and the Sparks, one of the worst, at the Barclays Center. Liberty fans cheered for a comeback after L.A. got off to a hot start, looking to extend its four-game win streak. The Sparks dominated early, with Kelsey Plum launching fearless 3s while New York stood paralyzed. Things worsened when Breanna Stewart exited three minutes into the game with a leg injury. At halftime, the Liberty trailed 58-45. All the momentum belonged to the Sparks. 

The response came from the fans.

The Liberty faithful poured their hearts out like their lives were on the line. Ellie the Elephant, New York’s world-famous mascot, put on a performance that could rival Beyoncé. The team picked up speed in the third, scoring 24 points. Natasha Cloud and Sabrina Ionescu locked in and made repeated big plays, the fans going ballistic over each highlight. Cloud gave it her all, scoring 22 points and putting on a show after each bucket. Ionescu recorded her 16th 30-point game, a new franchise record. But what sent the fans into absolute madness was a simple free throw. 

With 2:18 left on the clock, Ionescu was rewarded with one shot and the opportunity to tie up the game. Just like Atlas, Ionescu carried the weight of the world to keep the Liberty’s win streak alive. 

Bucket. 95-95.

New York had completed the comeback, and the torch was blazing hot. The jumbotron words jumped on screen, the arena lights tried to give someone an epileptic seizure, the fans rallied to cheer on their favorite team. But with the score tied at 99-99 and the clock ticking toward zero, the Spark’s Rakia Jackson launched a desperate shot over the Liberty’s Stephanie Talbot. Bucket. 

Rickea Jackson Devastates New York City

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By Dominic T.

The July sun wasn’t the only thing heating up in Brooklyn on Saturday night. As Kelsey Plum of the Los Angeles Sparks stood looking frustrated at center court, the Liberty’s Natasha Cloud couldn’t do anything but grin while the crowd roared.

Fittingly, a hyper-intense contest ended in a frantic layup by Sparks forward Rickea Jackson to beat the buzzer and put an end to New York’s 15-point comeback with a 101-99 victory. Silence fell over the arena so quickly you’d think someone had died on the court, while Los Angeles celebrated over the gravestone. Jackson finished the game with 24 points on 9-15 shooting, 4-6 from three. 

The recent explosion in popularity of the WNBA directly contributed to the passion both on the court and in the stands that night. When players faced off emotionally and physically, the crowd erupted. When the players are invested, the fans are invested at the games, on TV and online. In turn, the league can invest more into its players. The 2025 season has been defined by its fierceness, and it’s projected to earn $1 billion in revenue. 

Performances like that of the Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu get even more attention as a result of the growing audience size. In her 16th career 30-point game, setting a franchise record, the 5’11” guard contributed eight rebounds, six assists, and four steals. Her final basket came with 23 seconds on the clock, tying the game 99-99 and sending the crowd into a frenzy. 

Perhaps the only person with more hustle than Cloud, meanwhile, was the man mopping the court in between offensive sets. The guard’s 22-point, nine-assist outing was sprinkled with multiple enthusiastic confrontations with Plum. Her death stare into the stands lit a fire in the crowd after a quick-step and-1 in the fourth quarter.

Despite Cloud’s hustle, Plum managed to orchestrate the Sparks offense, scoring 20 points and dishing out eight assists. The Liberty simply didn’t have an answer in the paint after Breanna Stewart went down with a hamstring injury three minutes into the game. 

With the loss just past the halfway point in the season, the Liberty ended their home stand 6-2, clinging to the first seed in the east. The Sparks expanded their red-hot win streak to five in an attempt to save their season. No matter who comes out on top this season, every team in the WNBA has won the hearts of basketball fans across the country.

Buzzer Beater Downs NY Liberty 

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By Arianna S.

Stepping into the Barclay’s Center 90 minutes before a game feels ritualistic. The lines are short, the corridors are all but empty, and the promise of what’s to come hums in the air as the first few fans prepare for tipoff.

Slowly, the seafoam green tide rises, flooding every level. New York Liberty jerseys, signs, face paint — suddenly, Barclays is alive. Chants begin in pockets, swelling into unified roars. When player introductions roll across the Jumbotron, each name — Jones, Ionescu, Cloud, Stewart, Fiebich — is met with uproar. The crowd isn’t just watching; it’s performing.

Then the game begins.

When the New York Liberty took on the L.A. Sparks at home on July 26, they came in on a five-game win streak, ready to take on a team they had defeated a few weeks earlier.

Jonquel Jones got the first points on the board for the Liberty early, making the New York faithful believe it’d be a game of triumphant moments. Instead, it was the beginning of a rather dull first quarter, involving bad passes, missed shots, and aggravating calls. The energy on the court was not matching the energy in the stands, especially after Breanna Stewart left the game with a leg injury three minutes before the end of the period.

Even as the Liberty pulled closer in the second half, it felt as though the tone on the court had been set against them, and it never quite lifted. In the end, a last-second desperation shot gave the Sparks the 101-99 victory, and a five-game win streak. 

Though New York came in with momentum, superior talent, and home-court advantage, none of it seemed to matter once the clock started. The chemistry that usually characterizes the reigning champions felt off, and while individual moments sparked the momentum fans expected, the Liberty never fully connected. That one slow quarter turned into a game in which a top-tier never seemed to be able to keep up their typical pace.

Thankfully for the Liberty, the Brooklyn crowd kept it hyped throughout, cheering as if they’d never see these players again. Sometimes, it’s the fans who make nights like these unforgettable.

Henderson hopes to lead Tigers to victory after disappointing season

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Mitch Henderson ’98, who won three Ivy League championships as a player at Princeton, is looking to capture his first Ivy crown as coach.

Mitch Henderson ’98, who won three Ivy League championships as a
player at Princeton, is looking to capture his first Ivy crown as coach.

By Johnny Flores, Jr.
Coachella, Calif.

After finishing 21-9 overall and 8-6 in the Ivy League, Princeton University head basketball coach Mitch Henderson hopes to make his fourth season a winning one.

“The less you’re focused on the littlest of things the better off you are,” he said.

Henderson, clad in basketball shorts and a Princeton University polo shirt, said he’s enjoying his time away from basketball this summer. “August is a pretty good time for us,” he said. “We’re off the road which means we’re not recruiting.” In the off-season, Henderson spends time in the office as well as time with his wife and two children.

While the season doesn’t officially start until November, Henderson is already spending time thinking about the future and setting goals for the upcoming season. “The goal is, we have to be playing together. In sports, life and anything else it’s ‘How do you get people to not think about themselves?’” Continue reading →

Princeton basketball coach hopes to rebound

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By Navil Henderson
Thornton, Colo.

Mitch Henderson ’98, who won three Ivy League championships as a player at Princeton, is looking to capture his first Ivy crown as coach. Courtesy of Princeton University Office of Communications.

Mitch Henderson ’98, who won three Ivy League championships as a player at Princeton, is looking to capture his first Ivy crown as coach. Courtesy of Princeton University Office of Communications.

In March 1998, Princeton men’s basketball player Mitch Henderson ’98 took his college basketball jersey off for the last time. After a brief professional playing career and an assistant coach role at Northwestern University, he eventually found his way back to his alma mater, becoming the 28th head coach of the Princeton Tigers men’s basketball team in 2011.

Back on the Jadwin court with clipboard in hand and whistle in tow, Henderson said he enjoys developing his players and setting strategy for the team.

During the 2012-13 season, Henderson helped the team build momentum that put them in first place and in contention for the Ivy League title entering the final week of the season. That opportunity slipped through their fingers when back-to-back losses to Yale and Brown effectively ended their quest for the title. The team finished with a 17-11 record overall, behind perennial rival Harvard (20-10). Continue reading →

Henderson looks to rebound with Ivy crown

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By Xavier Husser
New York, N.Y.

The 2013 Ivy League season started strong for the Princeton men’s basketball team, as the Tigers posted a 9-2 league record, before back-to-back road losses to Yale and Brown in early March. Finishing 10-4 in the league, Princeton lost its chance to add to its 26 Ivy League championship titles.

Coach Mitch Henderson ’98 is looking for redemption during the upcoming season. Neither Henderson nor any of the players blame each other for the losses because it was “everybody’s fault. We win as a team and lose as a team,” he said. Continue reading →