Leonie Fiebich shakes off rough start to hit Liberty’s ‘biggest’ shot in OT win

PHOENIX — Leonie Fiebich didn’t have the best start to Sunday’s game.

Her defense was good, but her shot was off.

She made only one of her five 3-point attempts in regulation and had three turnovers in the third quarter.

But Fiebich caught fire when the Liberty needed her the most, scoring five pivotal points in overtime.

The way Fiebich finished the Liberty’s 76-69 overtime victory against the Mercury in Game 1 of their first-round series wasn’t a surprise to anyone on her team.

“It’s funny, she had missed some early on, and I knew she was gonna hit the biggest one of the night,” Sabrina Ionescu said. “It’s just what she does.”

Sure enough, Fiebich delivered down the stretch.

Ionescu was getting hounded by Mercury guard Monique Akoa Makani and Alyssa Thomas was right there, too. Fiebich came to her aid with a perfectly timed backdoor cut toward the basket.

Fiebich received a bounce pass from Ionescu for what appeared to be an easy layup to give the Liberty a seven-point lead with 2:20 left in overtime.

Moments later, Natasha Cloud connected on the perimeter with Fiebich, who drained the dagger 3.

The way Fiebich ended the game should fuel her confidence heading into what could be a decisive Game 2 in Brooklyn on Wednesday.

After the win, Cloud lauded Fiebich for not letting what appeared to be an off night offensively impact her defense.

“Leo does so much defensively that won’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet, won’t necessarily be talked about even on broadcast, but she is so sound to everything that we do that when you remove her, you feel a little bit of chaos because we don’t have our stability there,” Cloud said. “So even though Leo might not have had those big shots in the beginning, she made it when it mattered. But she impacts the game much more than just the scoring.”

After Saturday’s practice, the Liberty’s final tuneup before the playoffs, Cloud was sitting alongside Kennedy Burke and watching Fiebich shoot.

Cloud doesn’t think she missed a single attempt.

“Leo’s form is so f–king pretty, like it is cash,” Cloud said. “It is repetitive. It is beautiful.’”

When Fiebich’s shot wasn’t falling Sunday, Cloud encouraged her by dapping her up and telling her that, “Next one. When it goes in, that b-tch gonna be sweet.”

It sure was in overtime.

“This is why we don’t ever hesitate,” Cloud said. “We have the most confidence in all of our shooters around, but Leo especially.”

Added Ionescu: “She’s one of the best 3-point shooters in the world and we know that. We continue to believe in her. She continues to believe in herself, put in the work. But I mean, that was the biggest shot of the night that she hit and kind of just solidified us winning this game.”