SAN FRANCISCO — The Liberty were exposed Sunday.
They got outclassed, outplayed and outcoached by the Valkyries, who won 76-67.
The Liberty should’ve known better. Golden State certainly did.
Gabby Williams knew that the Liberty were going to try to punch first after what happened in Seattle on Thursday night.
Williams also knew the Valkyries, who just beat the Dream twice at home, had what it took to beat the Liberty, a talented team with some serious flaws emerging.
On Sunday, Williams & Co. proved it.
The Valkyries closed out the second quarter on an 11-0 run to take a 41-29 lead at halftime.
It was the lowest-scoring half for the Liberty all season.
Things didn’t get better in the third.
On one possession, the Liberty allowed the Valkyries to grab two offensive rebounds before Kaila Charles got the layup to put the Valkyries up 16 with 5:37 left in the quarter.
At the end of the quarter, the Valkyries inbounded the ball and Charles found Janelle Salaun for the buzzer beater that gave Golden State a 64-48 lead heading into the fourth.
It was all over from there.
The Liberty, supposed to be a championship contender, have dealt with injuries.
They haven’t been at full strength in either game against the Valkyries.
They were without Leonie Fiebich (overseas commitments) and Sabrina Ionescu (left foot) for the first meeting.
Satou Sabally missed Sunday due to concussion protocol.
But general manager Jonathan Kolb built this star-studded roster to withstand the wear and tear of a 44-game season.
For most of the past two weeks — outside of Tuesday’s win against the defending champion Aces — they have crept into pretender territory, racking up losses to the Mystics, Fire, Sparks and Storm.
The Liberty have a problem with playing down to opponents, but Sunday’s issue was that they failed to meet the moment against a team that already beat them at Barclays Center.
Jonquel Jones called out the team’s lack of heart following the Storm loss — another example of the Liberty getting outworked by a lesser opponent.
Coach Chris DeMarco said his team had to be sharp.
“We have to play a full 40-minute game and match their physicality,” said DeMarco, who returned to Chase Center for the first time since the longtime Warriors assistant took the Liberty job. “We have to understand how we want to attack them and know what their strengths are.”
That’s not what happened.
In the majority of the Liberty’s losses, they lost along the margins.
On Sunday, they were outrebounded 30-22, turned the ball over 12 times for 15 Valkyries points and conceded 15 second-chance points.
Something has to change if the Liberty are serious about reclaiming their spot at the top of the mountain.
