One of the WNBA's newest signings re-introduced herself to the league on Tuesday night, as forward Emma Meesseman led the No. 2 New York Liberty to a splashy 105-97 road win over the No. 9 LA Sparks.
Meesseman made up for injured Liberty star Breanna Stewart's ongoing absence by scoring a season-high, team-leading 24 points. Fellow big Jonquel Jones also put up a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double and forward Leonie Fiebich added 20 points in a game that saw every New York starter contribute double-digit points.
"She's one of the best players in the world," Sparks head coach Lynne Roberts said of the 32-year-old Belgian international following Tuesday's game. "There's a lot of problems one of the best players in the world can bring you."
Meesseman — the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP — made her New York Liberty debut on August 3rd, entering a squad struggling with availability and chemistry.
"It's fundamentals, really," she said of her team's recent on-court issues. "No matter who we have on the court, no matter what level, players [or] what league, it's all about hustle. I don't think you can practice that. So we just have to go out there and fight."
Despite their problems, the reigning champion Liberty are continuing to cruise toward a playoff berth at the top of the WNBA standings, while the Sparks are still searching for a boost above the postseason cutoff line.
How to watch the New York Liberty in Wednesday's WNBA action
New York will try to score back-to-back road wins by visiting the No. 5 Las Vegas Aces at 9:30 PM ET on Wednesday, airing live on ESPN.
The New York Liberty wasted no time returning to work after a successful All-Star Weekend, with multiple reports stating that 2019 WNBA Finals MVP Emma Meesseman will join the reigning champs for the second half of the 2025 season.
A 2019 WNBA champion with the Washington Mystics, Meesseman hasn't played in the US league since the end of 2022, opting instead to prioritize European play following a stint with the Chicago Sky.
Averaging 12.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game in 2022, Meesseman was reportedly also scouted by the Minnesota Lynx and the Phoenix Mercury before landing with the New York Liberty.
Fresh off leading Belgium to victory at the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025, Meesseman's arrival is now dependent on her visa application's timeline.
Currently sitting at No. 2 in the WNBA standings, the Liberty have remained strong despite dealing with key absences from their starting lineup.
The Liberty expect Jonquel Jones's return to the court this week after the center missed extended time with an ankle injury, while star guard Leonie Fiebich has already logged New York minutes following her EuroBasket run with Germany.
Along with the reported addition of Meesseman, the Liberty also picked up Stephanie Talbot on Monday, snagging the Australian forward just days after the Golden State Valkyries waived the 32-year-old free agent.
How to watch the New York Liberty on Tuesday
The budding superteam will stack up against the No. 6 Indiana Fever in their Tuesday return from the 2025 WNBA All-Star festivities.
The action tips off at 8 PM ET, with live coverage on ESPN.
The reigning champion New York Liberty battled through injury and absences over the weekend, narrowly retaining their second-place spot in the WNBA standings despite seeing their losing streak extend to two games with Sunday's 89-79 stumble against the Seattle Storm.
Already missing starting guard Leonie Fiebich, who is overseas competing at the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket tournament, the Liberty also played without center Jonquel Jones and guard Sabrina Ionescu.
While Ionescu is day-to-day with a neck issue, Jones will miss four to six weeks of action due to an ankle injury, the team announced on Saturday.
Despite dropping three of their last four matchups, the champs appear to be taking their recent downturn in stride.
"This isn't going to be the hardest thing that we face all season," said forward Breanna Stewart after Sunday's loss. "We have to kind of embrace the adversity a little bit, whether it's we're down players or things happen in the middle of the game."
New York wasn't the only team in trouble this weekend, though, as the Indiana Fever followed up last Thursday's stumble against the Golden State Valkyries with an 89-81 Sunday loss to the Las Vegas Aces.
Fever guard Caitlin Clark is now one-for-17 from behind the arc in her last two games, as Indiana struggles to break out of their eighth-place standing.
How to watch the New York Liberty this week
New York will hope for added firepower in order to snap their losing streak on Wednesday, when they'll face a rising Golden State squad at 10 PM ET.
Coverage of the game will air live on WNBA League Pass.
The FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2025 has arrived, with the 16-team regional tournament tipping off its group stage on Wednesday before the knockout stages begin on June 24th.
Hosted across the continent with games in Czechia, Germany, Italy, and Greece, the 40th edition of the annual competition carries the additional weight of serving as a qualifying event for the 2026 FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournaments.
As a result, the top five teams in this month's EuroBasket contest will earn automatic spots in one of the March 2026 qualifiers.
Leading the charge to this year's trophy are 2023 winners Belgium, who enter the EuroBasket tournament as reigning champions.
However, 2024 Olympic silver medalists France have since stepped into the spotlight, with the always-dangerous Spain also threatening a podium finish.
Familiar faces to WNBA fans will feature on the 2025 EuroBasket courts this month, as several WNBA players have temporarily departed their US clubs to join their national teams in Europe, including Belgium guard Julie Allemand (LA Sparks), Great Britain center Temi Fagbenle (Golden State Valkyries), and Germany forward Leonie Fiebich (New York Liberty).
As a major international tournament, the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket is exempt from the WNBA's prioritization rule, meaning eligible players can miss regular-season league play to compete in the overseas contest without being in violation of WNBA protocols.
How to watch FIBA Women's EuroBasket in the US
The EuroBasket group-stage action tipped off on Wednesday morning, with all games streaming live on Courtside 1891.
With EuroBasket set to tip off on Wednesday and injuries mounting league-wide, WNBA teams are filling out dwindling rosters with more short-term contracts — and calling back some familiar faces along the way.
While some European standouts withdrew from EuroBasket consideration — including Phoenix's Satou Sabally and Seattle's Gabby Williams — others, like New York's Leonie Fiebich and Golden State's Temi Fagbenle, will join their national teams for the regional FIBA tournament through the end of June.
Due to these planned absences, WNBA teams temporarily suspend their EuroBasket players' contracts, allowing squads to add others to their rosters.
Players signed due to temporary absences are technically on rest-of-season deals, though the agreements can end whenever the missing athletes return.
In contrast, the league requires that teams release any hardship signings due to injury once squads tally enough healthy original players to satisfy the WNBA's 10-athlete roster minimum.
Featuring a lineup stacked with international talent, Golden State made the most transactions this week, temporarily suspending four regular contracts as 2025 EuroBasket stars departed for the annual competition.
To bolster their depleted bench, the Valkyries brought back 2025 WNBA Draft Cinderella pick Kaitlyn Chen and recent training camp participant Laeticia Amihere on short-term contracts, in addition to guard Aerial Powers and forward Chloe Bibby.
Elsewhere, after losing forward Maddy Siegrist to injury and temporarily suspending the contracts of centers Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsöder, Dallas acquired center Li Yueru from Seattle — with the Wings possibly needing additional hardship signings in the coming days.
The Storm snagged two future draft picks in the Saturday deal — a second-round selection in 2026 and a third-round pick in 2027.
Ultimately, teams are striving to find a balance between stocking up and maintaining consistency, all while operating under the WNBA's roster constraints — with further league expansion fast approaching.
Fresh off winning their first-ever WNBA title, the New York Liberty will kick off their 2025 preseason slate with in a Friday night clash against the Connecticut Sun — despite the reigning champs looking a little worse for wear.
Two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart has been slowly recovering from offseason knee surgery, with the 30-year-old watching from the bench on Friday in an effort to return to full fitness for next week's season opener.
Similarly, star guard Betnijah Laney-Hamilton is likely out for the entirety of the 2025 WNBA season with a knee injury of her own, exiting the offseason 3×3 league Unrivaled with a meniscus injury in early March.
Meanwhile, starting sharpshooter Leonie Fiebich has yet to join the Liberty in training camp as the European standout finishes her overseas season with Spain's Valencia Basket.
Liberty additions to make New York debut on Friday
That said, New York did manage to make a few savvy pick-ups ahead of the 2025 campaign, with the newly configured team eyeing a strong Friday showing to avoid rumors of a slow season start.
The Liberty traded for point guard Natasha Cloud and signed forward Izzy Harrison over the offseason, while also welcoming back guards Marine Johannes and Rebekah Gardner.
Given New York's lengthy availability report, Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello noted that the team's markedly late preseason start was not strategic, but merely a scheduling solution.
"Sometimes it's just out of our hands," Brondello told reporters. "This is the first home game that we've had because we've never been able to get the arena availability, so that's it. Ideally, we would have liked to play the game by now, but it is what it is."
How to watch the New York Liberty in the 2025 WNBA preseason
New York will tip off against Connecticut at 7 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.