The Liberty returned home from a three-game western swing looking to ensure as many postseason games as possible at Barclays Center.
The WNBA-leading Libs improved their league-best record to 28-6 — and lowered their magic number to clinch the top seed in the postseason to four — with a 77-70 victory Thursday night over the Seattle Storm in Brooklyn.
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton scored 18 points in her return to the starting lineup following July knee surgery as the Liberty extended their lead over the Connecticut Sun and the Minnesota Lynx to 3 ¹/₂ games with six to play.
Sabrina Ionescu contributed 17 points and eight assists, and Jonquel Jones added 15 points with eight rebounds and five blocked shots.
The team’s leading scorer, Breanna Stewart, missed her first eight shots of the night but netted 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter.
A first-overall finish would guarantee Sandy Brondello’s star-studded squad home-court advantage throughout the playoffs in their quest for the franchise’s elusive first championship.
“Trying to stay No. 1, I think that’s at the top of our list, but still playing good basketball and peaking without having to overplay anyone,” Brondello said. “Now we’ve got our full team back together, and still working on all those rotations, but we’ll use the next seven games to make sure we’re ready to go once the playoffs do start.”
The first-place Libs, who clinched a playoff berth with a win last week in Las Vegas, were the No. 2 seed in the playoffs last year.
They dropped the first two games of the WNBA Finals to the Aces before losing the series in four games.
The Liberty have the most appearances in the finals without a championship (five), and they are the only remaining original franchise in the league without a title.
“I think that’s the experience of what we went through last year,” Brondello said. “Being on our home court, we feel like we play great basketball here. Our home crowd is awesome.
“But having it throughout the playoffs, I still don’t look too far ahead. It’s one playoff [round] at a time. But that helps us being home. We’re in our beds, we’re in our own routines, and we would like that.”
Brondello noted that with “so much more parity” in the league this year, any first-round matchup will be “difficult” and “dangerous.”
Entering Thursday, the Nos. 6-8 seeds were Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, the veteran-laden Phoenix Mercury and Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky, respectively.
Of course, the Liberty are fronted by stars Stewart, Ionescu and Jones, but they also got back Laney-Hamilton initially in a reserve role on the three-game western trip.
She moved back into the starting lineup Thursday night, marking the first time since July 6 that Brondello employed her regular starting five.
Stewart missed all five field-goal attempts and was held to one point in the first half against her former team, Ionescu (12), Jones (10) and Laney-Hamilton (nine) combined for 31 as the Liberty carried a 40-36 lead into intermission.
Stewart’s struggles continued to start the third, and Seattle guard Skylar Diggins-Smith (21 points) buried a 3-pointer as the Storm grabbed a 53-51 lead.
But Stewart finally connected on a layup in the final minute, and the Liberty closed the quarter on a 6-0 run for a 62-57 advantage before long-range buckets by Laney-Hamilton and Stewart extended the run to 17-2 and the cushion to 11 early in fourth.
