Liberty reserve forward Stephanie Talbot is coming off her best effort in a New York uniform heading into Friday’s game in Dallas. Photo by Brandon Todd/New York Liberty
Three weeks ago, Stephanie Talbot was a part-time starter for the expansion Golden State Valkyries.
Now, the Australian forward is emerging as a key reserve for the defending WNBA champion New York Liberty.
That’s quite a step up in the standings and the power rankings.
But it doesn’t mean the transition from San Francisco to Downtown Brooklyn or going from a franchise making its first foray into the best women’s basketball league in the world to one chasing a second straight championship has been easy.
Tuesday night at Barclays Center, it started getting easier for Talbot, by her own admission.
“I’m slowly getting more and more comfortable playing with these players. I think I’ve had maybe two trainings, so it’s like, trying to find my rhythm in games is kind of tough,” Talbot ceded after scoring a season high-tying 13 points in New York’s 85-76 win over visiting Dallas.
At 31, Talbot has grown used to moving around.
This is her sixth WNBA stop since he entered the league in 2017, not to mention an international pro career that has seen her play in her native country as well as Poland and France.
The 6-foot-1 Katherine, Northern Territory native was waived by the Valkyries on July 13 and found herself a member of the defending champs eight days later.
She is quite familiar with her new coach and countrywoman as well.
Sandy Brondello drafted Talbot into the league in Phoenix just over a decade ago and is also the coach of Team Australia.
Talbot, who played for Brondello at the COVID-delayed 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, wasn’t able to participate in last year’s bronze medal-winning run for the Opals in Paris because she was recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Now, the two Aussies have a different mission together here in Downtown Brooklyn — grabbing Title II.
“I think Sandy always stays the same,” Talbot said. “Obviously, there’s adjustments she makes to what we’re doing on the court, slight adjustments and things she’s trying to get better at as a coach.
“But Sandy is Sandy. … I think that’s what makes her her. She always stays the same, never too high, never too low.”
Talbot, who had totaled 17 points in her first seven appearances for New York, strutted her stuff in front of her coach and a sellout crowd at Barclays Tuesday.
She hit 4-of-6 shots from the floor, including a 3-of-4 effort from 3-point range. Talbot also grabbed three rebounds, handed out a pair of assists and picked up a steal in 24 strong minutes off the pine.
Her plus-minus rating of +8 was the best of any player on the floor and she didn’t commit a single turnover.
“The more I play and the more I watch and learn what the players like to do, it’s easier for me,” Talbot said.
In search of her first career WNBA title, Talbot also displayed her clutch gene against the Wings (8-22), who were threatening to reel the Liberty back in during the fourth quarter.
Talbot wouldn’t let it happen.
With New York clinging to a five-point lead with nine minutes to go, she calmly sank a 25-footer off a feed from All-Star guard
Sabrina Ionescu and cruised in for a layup on the ensuing possession to give the Liberty a 67-57 cushion.
But Talbot wasn’t done. She hit again from 3-point range on the next trip to stretch the lead to 13 with 7:30 remaining.
“I think we moved the ball when they were trapping Sabrina,” she said of her fourth-quarter scoring spree, which forced a Dallas timeout and brought over 17,000 Brooklynites to their feet.
“We were able to move the ball out of that, and I was able to get some open shots,” Talbot added humbly.
By the time she was draining a pair of free throws with 21.1 ticks left to ice the Wings for good, Talbot was responsible for 40 percent of New York’s points in the final 10 minutes.
Though it was only her second double-digit scoring effort in a Liberty uniform, Talbot’s contribution came at a key time. New York is sorely missing All-Star forward Breanna Stewart as well as key reserves Nyara Sabally and Kennedy Burke due to injury.
“It’s more about what I can bring to help,” Talbot said. “It’s going to be different every night. Bring the energy and bring the toughness. When the energy is down, I can bring it up.”
She’ll try to so again Friday night, when the Liberty close out their home-and-home set with the Wings at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.
Dallas super rookie Paige Bueckers, who suffered a strained back in Tuesday’s opener, was listed as day-to-day in the aftermath of the contest. She did not appear on the Wings’ injury report at press time.
The first overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft had 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists in Brooklyn, but did miss a good portion of the thid quarter and only played part of the fourth after suffering the strain.
The Wings beat the Liberty in Dallas on July 28 behind 20 points from Bueckers and 20 points and 14 rebounds from Arike Ogunbowale.
Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.
The game will be televised on ION.
GIVE ME LIBERTY: Tuesday marked the league-leading fifth time this season New York drained at least 50 percent (12-of-24) of its 3-pointers. … Stewart, who is not expected back until the end of the month at the earliest due to a bone bruise in her right knee, Burke (calf) and Sabally (knee) remained listed as out for Friday. … After visiting Dallas, the Liberty will host league-leading Minnesota (25-5) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. That game will air nationally on ABC.
