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Breanna Stewart, Liberty dominate Tempo as starters get pulled in third quarter

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Cite

Kenney, M. (2026, September 20). Breanna Stewart, Liberty dominate Tempo as starters get pulled in third quarter. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/20/sports/liberty-pull-starters-in-third-quarter-of-beatdown-of-tempo-behind-breanna-stewart/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-09-20 · by Madeline Kenney

Quick Summary

Breanna Stewart led the New York Liberty to a 106-69 victory over the Toronto Tempo on Sunday, scoring 27 points and helping build a significant lead early in the third quarter before being substituted out for the final period. Head coach Chris DeMarco managed player workloads closely due to upcoming playoff games, with Stewart playing only 22 minutes after her World Cup performance. The Liberty's offense struggled briefly but recovered to secure an eight-point halftime advantage and extend their lead throughout the game.
Written by AI on 2026-09-20, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Breanna Stewart, a key player for the New York Liberty, scored 27 points to lead her team to a decisive 106-69 victory over the Toronto Tempo on Sunday. This win helped the Liberty maintain their playoff hopes, with two games remaining before the playoffs start. Stewart moved into eighth place in WNBA scoring history by passing Cappie Pondexter’s 6,811 points and now has a total of 6,833 points. The game was notable for its fan support as it marked the Tempo's home finale; despite losing their sixth straight game, they received strong backing from 8,200 fans in attendance.

Written for “Breanna Stewart Leads Liberty” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Breanna Stewart Leads Liberty
Sports · 6 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 15 claims Outlet record 64/100
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 1 of 12 claims Outlet record 64/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 2 of 33 claims Outlet record 64/100
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 30 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe two different games and incidents involving Breanna Stewart: one where she performs exceptionally well in a win, another where she reacts angrily to an officiating decision during a loss.”
Toronto Star
Hedges 0 of 13 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different games: one is between New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx, while the other appears to be a game against Toronto Tempo.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
28
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 28 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
6
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
6
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-20 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15592 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Madeline Kenney
50 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Regardless of what happens Saturday, a first-time champion will be crowned.
🔮 But they will have to do it without Jaedyn Shaw and Rose Lavelle, two of the club’s leading scorers.
🔮 A 27-point blowout prompted Gabby Williams to immediately deliver an impassioned message to her teammates in a huddle on the floor.
🔮 This unfamiliar position has forced the U.S. to confront a new reality in which reclaiming the top spot will require measuring itself against the team that holds it.
🔮 Entering Friday, with New York on the brink of elimination, all Stewart could think about was extending the Liberty’s season.
🔮 The Liberty would like to think they could be the first and vowed to chip away at the mountain one game at a time. “The mentality is just that it’s not over,” Ionescu said.
🔮 When the Women’s Champions Classic returns to Barclays Center later this year, the spotlight will shine on some of the biggest stars in women’s college basketball.
🔮 The Liberty, now trailing 2-0 in the best-of-five semifinals, learned after the game they had a reset timeout after all and could’ve advanced the ball on the final possession.
🔮 NOW“I would probably say that too if I didn’t want to admit that we got beat by somebody else,” Dream wing Rhyne Howard said Tuesday.
🔮 “Maybe just crashing and trying to make things happen, be a little bit more physical in that sense.
Also by Madeline Kenney
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 50 articles by Madeline Kenney →

Topics

Berlin Liberty New York TORONTO Team USA

Subjects

Liberty ORG · 8× Stewart PERSON · 4× Berlin GPE · 2× New York GPE · 2× TORONTO GPE · 2× Team USA ORG · 2× Breanna Stewart PERSON · 1× Madeline Kenney PERSON · 1× Post Sports+ for ORG · 1× USA Basketball ORG · 1×

Narrative

We’ve got you covered on the Liberty beat Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.
framing: assertive · carried by 6 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-20
🔮 “Some players will play a little bit more, but we have to monitor Stew coming out of Team USA and the World Cup and how she’s feeling, and everyone else …
2026-09-22 · New York Post
Liberty let playoff home-court advantage slip away with loss to Dream · assertive framing
2026-10-04 · New York Post
Liberty’s sloppy play proves costly in Game 1 loss to Dream · assertive framing

Claims (28 extracted, 1 hedged)

TORONTO — Breanna Stewart caught fire in Berlin to help USA Basketball capture its fifth consecutive World Cup medal. asserted
Basketball → catch → medal
We’ve got you covered on the Liberty beat Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA. asserted
you → get → things
tRY IT NOWStewart was so good in Sunday’s 106-69 blowout of the Toronto Tempo that she earned the right to sit the entire fourth quarter. asserted
she → try → quarter
The Liberty led by eight points at halftime, but Stewart blew things wide open with a dominant third quarter. asserted
Stewart → lead → quarter
She made five consecutive shots to score 14 of her game-high 27 points. asserted
She → make → points
Her lone miss in that frame was a nearly half-court heave to beat the shot clock. asserted
miss → beat → clock
Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu headed to the bench with 2:46 left in the third. asserted
Stewart → head → third
Jonquel Jones followed shortly after. asserted
Jones → follow → ?
After helping the Liberty pull ahead by 21 points entering the fourth, New York’s big three got rewarded for putting the work in early. asserted
three → help → work
They let the rest of the team close out this one, with recently signed developmental player Madison Scott making her season debut. asserted
Scott → let → debut
Two days after logging 38 minutes in a statement win against the Minnesota Lynx, Stewart played only 22 minutes. asserted
Stewart → log → minutes
Coach Chris DeMarco said he’d be monitoring player workloads with Sunday being the front end of a back-to-back and the second of four games in six days with playoffs on the horizon. asserted
Sunday → say → horizon
Stewart led Team USA in minutes played in Berlin. asserted
Stewart → lead → Berlin
Leonie Fiebich also played heavy minutes for Germany, which finished fourth in the tournament. asserted
which → play → tournament
“We understand it’s playoff time, and these games matter,” DeMarco said pregame. asserted
DeMarco → understand → ?
“Some players will play a little bit more, but we have to monitor Stew coming out of Team USA and the World Cup and how she’s feeling, and everyone else … asserted
she → play → everyone
Teamwide we’re looking at it.” asserted
we → look → it
The Liberty took control early. asserted
Liberty → take → control
Their offense was clicking in the first quarter. asserted
offense → click → quarter
The ball hummed, resulting in eight assists on 10 makes. asserted
ball → hum → makes
The Liberty offense stagnated, though, during a stretch in the second quarter. asserted
offense → stagnate → quarter
They missed six consecutive shots during an 8-1 Tempo run that cut the Liberty lead to four. asserted
that → miss → four
New York finished the quarter strong to take an eight-point lead into the half. asserted
York → finish → half
Ionescu, who’s been prone to disappearing acts this season as she’s dealt with a nagging back injury, couldn’t get it going in Toronto. asserted
it → disappear → Toronto
She missed all seven shots in the first half. asserted
She → miss → half
Though her shot wasn’t falling, she still found ways to impact the game, finishing with nine assists. asserted
she → fall → assists
The Liberty, who are still jockeying for playoff positioning, head home for two games against the Atlanta Dream. asserted
who → jockey → Dream
If New York wins out, the team could finish as high as fourth, which would give it home-court advantage in the first round. uncertain
which → win → round
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