Chris DeMarco Expects to Return as Liberty Coach After Semifinal Sweep

Liberty coach Chris DeMarco said Friday night that he expects to return next season, minutes after the Atlanta Dream beat New York 85-83 at Barclays Center to finish a three-game sweep of their WNBA semifinal.

DeMarco answered "Yes" when the question of next season came up. He said every communication he has had with the organization indicates he will be back.

He did not know whether his assistant coaches would return, adding, "We just lost an emotional game."

DeMarco does not plan to take a break this offseason. He will look at everything, the way he does after any season that starts with championship expectations, while Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb handles roster decisions.

"I believe in this locker room and our roster, and I do think we had enough," DeMarco said. "That's a Jonathan question, obviously; I don't make roster decisions. If things go differently, maybe we're up 2-1 right now."

Atlanta won Game 1 92-82 on Oct. 4 and Game 2 101-98 in overtime on Wednesday, when Naz Hillmon's layup with 20.8 seconds left in the extra period put the Dream ahead for good.

On Friday, Breanna Stewart missed a contested layup with nine seconds left and New York down 83-81.

New York finished 26-18, won the 2026 Commissioner's Cup, and entered the playoffs as the No. 8 seed. The Liberty swept top-seeded Minnesota in the first round.

Atlanta won two of three regular-season meetings, beating New York 95-84 and 83-65 in the final week of the regular season.

Satou Sabally was listed out for the season with a head injury during the semifinals. Sabrina Ionescu missed the start of the season and made her debut in a home loss to Dallas.

On Aug. 6, New York waived Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who played 126 regular-season games for the franchise and was part of the 2024 title team, and signed Marine Fauthoux to a multiyear contract. Washington claimed Laney-Hamilton off waivers.

DeMarco said this season brought as much adversity as he has been part of.

"I loved our focus and our leadership," DeMarco explained. "This is as much adversity as I've ever been a part of, with the injuries, everything going on in the world, and so many players playing in the World Cup. It was just a funny season. I'm very proud that our group came together. It didn't matter that we were the [eight seed]; we didn't even talk about it."

"We won a series and then battled our asses off in this one," DeMarco continued. "I wanted more for them. I really did. You could see how hard they were playing. I love this team, the contributions, the improvements a lot of our players made, and the way our rookies stepped up."

Fauthoux scored 20 points off the bench in Game 2, a performance DeMarco praised afterward, and nine on Friday.

Pauline Astier, a rookie guard, scored 16 points in New York's 104-90 win at Atlanta on June 11.

Sabally's priority is her health, DeMarco said, and she has to feel good before she plays again.

In the fourth quarter Friday, DeMarco had two timeouts to use before the three-minute mark. He said he stayed with the unit that made New York's third-quarter run and used the timeouts to rest it.

The Liberty led by four early in the fourth quarter, then went more than six minutes without a field goal.

Jonquel Jones finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds, six of them offensive, on 11-of-17 shooting.

She and Angel Reese bumped chests after Jones blocked Reese's shot in the second quarter, and both drew technical fouls. DeMarco said there was a lot of talk about physicality in the series.

"Jonquel tonight — there was a lot of talk about the physicality in the series, and she responded with 26 and 14," DeMarco said. "She's phenomenal. She brought it. Everyone in that locker room didn't want to lose, and they played like it. She was phenomenal out there."

Stewart also scored 26 and went 13-of-13 at the free-throw line. Ionescu had 12 points, all on 3-pointers, after scoring 27 in Game 1.

Atlanta advances to the Finals, which begin Saturday, Oct. 17, against the winner of the Las Vegas-Golden State semifinal. Golden State leads that series 2-0.