New York Liberty call blowout loss to Mystics 'a huge lesson' - ESPN

Tabbed as a «superteam» heading into the 2023 WNBA season, the New York Liberty showed they are still a work in progress after their 80-64 season-opening loss to the host Washington Mystics on Friday night.

No team has lost its season opener by 16 points and gone on to win the WNBA title, according to ESPN Stats & Information. But point guard Courtney Vandersloot said the Liberty is nowhere near «panic mode by any means.»

«It's got to build up,» Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. «I wish we had a little longer camp with our full team.… We can learn a lot from this. The team with the most chemistry certainly won tonight. We were not very good, and they were very good.»

Indeed, New York looked like a team with multiple new players still getting back into the basketball groove, whereas D.C. looked like a unit that had played together for years. After all, four of its five starters were part of its title-winning run in 2019.

«This was a huge lesson for us,» Vandersloot said. «What a big test for us to start off the season and play a team like this that really clicked on all cylinders tonight.»

Over in Brooklyn, offseason additions Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Vandersloot saw limited action in training camp, taking the practice floor altogether for the first time this week. Jones, who demanded a trade to New York in January, is recovering from a foot injury, while Stewart, who signed with the Liberty in free agency, rested parts of camp coming off her season in Turkey. Vandersloot, who was also a free agent signee, missed time after suffering a concussion early in camp.

Jones and Vandersloot were both on minutes restrictions Friday, seeing the floor for 19 and 27 minutes, respectively.

The lack of chemistry and rust