Kennedy Burke becoming Liberty’s bench spark again

MINNEAPOLIS — The sting of Saturday’s 86-80 loss to the Lynx hadn’t worn off when Kennedy Burke plopped herself in a chair in a hallway under Target Center.

It was only her second game back since she missed close to three weeks with a right calf strain.

The Liberty have dropped both games.

But Burke is settling back into her role as the spark off the bench.

Burke had missed each of her three attempts from deep in Wednesday’s loss at Las Vegas.

But she rekindled her shooting groove Saturday against the Lynx.

Burke drained back-to-back 3s for the Liberty.

She finished with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting, with two assists.

“I’ve been feeling really good,” said Burke, who had eight points against Las Vegas. “I feel like my teammates have played a big part in that, just trusting in me. Knowing that I’m still not there yet because it’s my second game back, but knowing that they have their trust in me. It means a lot. And I know when I come into the game, I just have to be a spark defensively, offensively. And just trusting that when I’m open, I have to make those shots. And then if I have a wide-open lane, like attack, to make something happen on the offensive end.”

Burke and Marine Johannès played important roles in helping the Liberty claw their way back and maintain a lead for part of Saturday’s game.

Johannès had 12 points and two assists.

Together, Burke and Johannès outscored the Lynx bench 23-12.

Emma Meesseman has played against Burke and Johannès at times over the course of her career.

She joked that she’s been on the receiving end of Burke’s lethal catch-and-shoot capabilities.

But Meesseman has been impressed with both as her teammates.

“This is only the second game with KB for me, so I like the way she’s coming in, just being super aggressive, being physical, too,” said Meesseman, who had 10 points, three rebounds and three assists against the Lynx. “And I’ve seen Marine playing during the offseason… how she can play, so I’m just happy that she found that a little bit more tonight. So I’m just hoping for her to be just confident and believe that she could do this every single game.”

The Liberty depth has been tested this season because of injuries. But the hope is that reserve players’ extended experience during the regular season will pay dividends in time of need during the playoffs.