Liberty’s Marine Johannes busts out with ‘ridiculous’ game

In the second quarter, with the Liberty holding a comfortable 32-13 lead over the Valkyries, Marine Johannès decided to finally let it fly.

Dribbling on the Liberty logo, she waited for a screen from Isabelle Harrison.

Cutting around it, she found no Golden State player to challenge her.

With the open space, Johannès leaped off her right foot for a highlight-worthy, one-legged runner 3.

A minute later, she rolled over another screen from Harrison for a pullup 3-pointer.

The 30-year-old from France then went on to swish a rainbow shot over 6-foot-2 rookie Janelle Salaun, who she has played with on the French women’s national basketball team.

Twelve of Johannès’ 18 points were scored in that second quarter for what was her biggest contribution yet this season in the Liberty’s 95-67 win over Golden State at Barclays Center.

Johannès only shot from beyond the arc, going 6-for-11 across 22 minutes.

“Some of those, I felt like the defender was right in her face,” Breanna Stewart said of Johannès after the win. “I know that right-handed runner was comin’! I was like she’s gonna shoot that.”

“She’s ridiculous,” Sandy Brondello added.

In her previous three games, the fourth-year guard had not scored more than six points or taken more than five shots in a game.

On Tuesday, she felt something different and decided to change her tune.

“I was too passive in the last game,” Johannès said. “Talking with [teammate] Izzy [Harrison], I have to stay aggressive. I think I have to keep going. It’s never easy. Every game is different. So, just my mentality [is] keep playing with confidence.”

Johannès explained she spoke with Harrison at practice on Monday and again on game day about how she wanted screens from her when they had time on the court together. They were clicking on Tuesday.

“For Marine, she was just finding her rhythm, especially at home, she has that confidence knowing that one falls in, next one goes in, fans are getting behind her, players too. We are happy to see her shooting with confidence,” Stewart said.

The fourth-place finisher for 2023’s Sixth Player of the Year also tallied four steals, two rebounds, one assist and one block on the night while leading the Liberty bench in points.

They collectively scored 37, which is an output the Liberty were looking to set themselves up for in the offseason.

“Our bench and our depth is gonna be what kind of separates us from anyone else,” Stewart said. “The ability to go this deep and know that there is just gonna be consistency in everything that we do is really important. Happy that everyone is coming in with confidence all the time, mistake or not, next play up like they were talking about. It’s really important because it’s a collective unit.”

Johannès has had on-again, off-again tenure with the Liberty, playing for New York in 2019, 2022, and 2023.

She was a fan favorite and key depth piece in the 2023 Finals, which made many disappointed when she did not return in 2024 to focus on playing for France in the Paris Olympics.

After general manager Jonathan Kolb completed a trade for Natasha Cloud, the team announced Johannès’ re-signing on March 21.

She has since participated in her first full training camp and has taken the first step to finding more consistency off the Liberty bench moving forward.

“I’m so happy for her,” Sabrina Ionescu said. “Any given night it can happen and I think her ability to just continue to stick with it knowing we want her to shoot shots, we want her to be confident. She missed the first and she just continued to shoot and got really hot, and that’s what Marine is capable of doing.”