Liberty’s defense

The Liberty looked more relieved than jubilant as the final buzzer sounded. They claimed Game Four of their semifinal round series against the vaunted Aces with a finishing flurry befitting their status as favorites, but knew they dodged a bullet all the same. They had been flirting with danger from the get-go, and they understood the fickle nature of the sport enough not to count their blessings before the outcome was clear. And so they kept their focus on the task at hand, mindful that their opponents weren’t two-time defending champions for nothing, and would keep fighting until the end, especially in front of 10,374 loyal fans at the Michelob ULTRA Arena.

Regardless of sentiment, however, there can be no doubting that the Liberty deserved to win and advance to the Women’s National Basketball Association Finals. Throughout their campaign, they stayed focused on their ultimate goal, motivated by the need to move on from their disappointing performance in last year’s title set-to. And as they headed into the playoffs, they believed that their consistency would enable them to exorcise the demons of their past. In this regard, it helped that they had taken the measure of the Aces in all four regular season meetings, and that they made short work of the Dream in the first round.

Still and all, rest did not come for the Liberty until they huddled in front of their bench to acknowledge their 76-62 Game Four triumph to close out the series and send the Aces home. They began the fourth quarter just two points ahead, but then conducted a masterclass on defense that allowed only 11 points, less than half their output. So outstanding were they in their coverage that unanimous Most Valuable Player awardee A’ja Wilson managed to take only two shots, forcing others to pick up the slack and deliver under pressure. And even then, they proved relentless in their efforts to prevent any easy baskets; they gave up only four out of 17 attempts.

The Liberty were understandably respectful in their post-mortem, in no small measure because they know three wins still separate them from the hardware. As challenging as the Aces may have been, more obstacles await. The only consolation is the momentary reprieve they get while awaiting the result of the winner-take-all affair between the Lynx and the Sun today. And though they match up better against the latter, they don’t care who the competition will be at this point. What matters is that they’re back in the Finals, and that they have all the confidence in the world to make sure they’ll be the last women standing this time around.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.