Natasha Cloud Shines in Her Debut with the Liberty
On a special day for the New York Liberty, marked by the celebration of their 2024 WNBA championship with the ring ceremony and the raising of the banner, it was one of the new additions who stole the show. Natasha Cloud, the point guard, dazzled in her debut with the Liberty, leading the team to a resounding victory over the Las Vegas Aces.
Cloud delivered a standout performance on both ends of the court, culminating in crucial plays in the final quarter that tipped the scales in favor of the Liberty, who prevailed with a score of 92-78 in the start of the 2025 season.
Upon her arrival at the Liberty, coming from the Phoenix Mercury and passing through the Connecticut Sun, Cloud proved her worth with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. The highlight came with two consecutive “and-one” plays in the final quarter, extending New York’s lead from two to eight points.
The ovation from the Barclays Center crowd, composed of 17,344 spectators, served as a warm welcome for Cloud. “I came out of the next timeout and Stewie asked me, ‘Do you like this crowd?'”, commented Cloud, who spent most of her career with the Washington Mystics. “And I replied that, honestly, I thought they were going to invade the court because of how they were screaming. It was electrifying.”
Cloud, known for her defense, became the fourth player in WNBA history to record 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in her debut with a team, and the first to achieve a stat line of 22-6-9.
“I think she’s relentless,” Aces coach Becky Hammon added about Cloud. “She plays with incredible intensity all the time. She’s in great shape. She knows exactly who she is and never deviates from that role. She’s disruptive. But offensively, she outplayed us in our defense, in our schemes. It was like the Spanish ‘olé,’ the hole they go straight through to the basket.”
Becky Hammon
Breanna Stewart, Cloud’s teammate, also contributed 25 points to the scoreboard. For the Aces, A’ja Wilson, the reigning MVP, led with 31 points.
The matchup between Liberty and Aces, a prominent rivalry in the league for the past three seasons, brought together the winners of six of the last seven MVP awards, as well as the champions of the last three WNBA editions. Although both teams present new elements, the game reflected the trend of their encounters in 2024: the dominance of the Liberty.
New York built a 17-point lead in the second period and achieved virtually everything they set out to do on offense, including 56 points in the paint. The current champions recorded 27 assists on their 35 baskets and scored 28 and 29 points in the second and fourth quarters, respectively. Las Vegas improved their offense after halftime, but Cloud’s outstanding performance in the final quarter, which included a three-pointer and three of his nine assists, was enough to keep the Aces at bay.
“Her versatility, her ability to attack the rim, putting her in favorable situations to succeed and read the defense, and then defensively, being everywhere, pressing,” Stewart commented on Cloud’s performance in her first regular season game with the Liberty. “And she’s selfless. She knows when to find her teammates and when to take responsibility and use her wingspan and size to dictate what she wants offensively.”
Breanna Stewart
Cloud, who replaced Courtney Vandersloot at the point guard position, was not the only notable addition on the Barclays Center court. Jewell Loyd, in her first game with the Aces after playing her entire career with the Seattle Storm, had a discreet debut with five points, with 2 of 10 in field goals.
Hammon expressed her disappointment at the lack of ball movement and player movement in her team’s offense, which made it difficult to counter the Liberty’s defensive pressure.
“Knowing Jewell, she’s not happy with herself,” Wilson said, who recorded her 17th double-double with 30 points, a WNBA record. “I just wanted to make sure I was constantly in her ear and let her know, to always remember who she is, and I don’t want her to get lost in that. I constantly tell her that I trust her every day with every shot she takes, and we’re all going to do that for her… The best is yet to come.”
A’ja Wilson
The Liberty have won 7 of the last 8 games against the Aces since the start of the 2024 season and have led by double digits in each of those victories.
The teams, which faced each other in the 2023 finals and the 2024 semifinals, will face each other again twice more in this regular season: on July 8 in Brooklyn and on August 13 in Las Vegas.
