Breanna Stewart returned to the New York Liberty with momentum from winning the World Cup MVP title. She emphasized that her focus remains on winning rather than individual accolades. The article highlights how Stewart's return coincides with a crucial stretch for the team, which includes four games in seven days as they vie for playoff seeding against tough competition like the Minnesota Lynx and Atlanta Dream.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Breanna Stewart, a key player for the New York Liberty, returned from winning the FIBA World Cup MVP after helping Team USA secure its fifth consecutive title by defeating France in the gold medal game. During the tournament, Stewart averaged 12.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. She emphasizes that her focus was on winning rather than individual accolades. The Liberty are now pushing for their playoff position, facing a challenging stretch of four games in seven days as they close out the regular season. Stewart's confidence remains high despite外界对WNBA最有价值球员的讨论减少，她表示：“我知道我在场上的表现如何，每个人都知道我在场上的表现如何。有时候人们可能习惯了伟大时刻的一贯性。”尽管如此，Stewart仍致力于帮助球队在季后赛前取得关键胜利。
Written for “WNBA Playoffs” on 2026-09-18,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Breanna Stewart’s confidence in her game is easy to see, so when she was asked Thursday, before the Liberty practiced at Barclays Center, if her FIBA World Cup MVP had a bit more meaning since she hasn’t been the focal point of the WNBA MVP conversation, her answer reflected that.
asserted
answer → see → that
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you → get → things
tRY IT NOW“I know what I do on the court, and everybody else knows what I do on the court,” the Liberty star said.
asserted
star → try → court
“Sometimes people, they just get used to greatness when it’s so consistent, I guess.
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I → get → greatness
But more than anything, during her 10 days in Berlin as part of the Team USA squad at the World Cup, her focus was on winning.
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focus → win → Cup
Stewart was an instrumental part in helping the U.S. win its fifth consecutive FIBA World Cup title, which included toppling France in the gold medal game.
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which → help → game
“There was enough talk about all the things, about it [being] France’s time and whatever,” Stewart said.
asserted
Stewart → be → things
“I wanted to do whatever I could to win that game.
uncertain
I → want → game
And if that made me MVP, then that made me MVP.
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me → make → ?
With the World Cup behind her, Stewart’s focus shifts back to the Liberty and the home stretch of the WNBA season.
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focus → shift → season
The Liberty have clinched a playoff berth, but their seeding in the postseason is far from solidified with four games left in the regular season and a date with the league-leading Minnesota Lynx right out of the break.
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seeding → clinch → break
Stewart — who scored 22 points in the gold medal game against France and averaged 12.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game during the tournament — found there are parallels between what she took away at the World Cup and the stretch of four games in seven days that the Liberty have to end the regular season.
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Liberty → score → season
“Knowing how important these four are, and Chris [DeMarco, head coach] talked about it a little bit [Wednesday], but the mindset and mentality of doing whatever it takes,” Stewart said.
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Stewart → know → whatever
“I think that sometimes with USA Basketball or with national team, you’re constantly just, like, going, right?
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you → think → team
You have to give 1,000 percent, and that’s the same here.
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that → have → percent
“It’s like, don’t save it, because we have a deep enough team.
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we → ’ → team
We have people that can come in and do things just as well.”
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that → have → things
The Liberty’s busy final week of the regular season won’t be an easy one, with the Lynx being the first team they’ll face while also having two games against the Atlanta Dream to close things out.
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they → face → things
The Liberty, who have had plenty of ups and downs this season and were 4-3 in seven games going into the break, could still finish as high as third or as low as eighth depending on how things shake out.
“I think it’s all about who finds their chemistry first after a break and we had many players home, it’ll be a challenge,” Leonie Fiebich said of Friday’s game against Minnesota.
“We know that we have a great team here, but we had some up and downs during the season, and just, like, finishing strong,” Marine Johannes added.
uncertain
Johannes → have → season
The Liberty will go into Friday with DeMarco anticipating every player to be available, though he warned that things could change.
uncertain
things → go → Friday
Outside of injured forward Satou Sabally, the Liberty had everyone on the court for practice in Brooklyn.
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Liberty → have → Brooklyn
“It’s nice to have the whole team together again, that’s for sure,” DeMarco said.
asserted
DeMarco → ’ → team
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