Leonie Fiebich played Liberty Game 3 loss with broken rib

Liberty wing Leonie Fiebich, though she returned to the game, did in fact break a rib after taking a knee to the torso early in the team’s season-ending, first-round Game 3 loss, general manager Jonathan Kolb said Thursday. 

Kahleah Copper appeared to have inadvertently kneed Fiebich while going for a layup in the first quarter in Phoenix.

Fiebich doubled over in agony. She left the game and went to the locker room for further examination. 

Kolb followed her, fearing the worst. Before she had been taken for an X-ray, Fiebich turned to Kolb and said, “I’m fine.” 

As Kolb waited to hear back from the team doctor, he watched the game on TV. He held his breath as he picked up his phone to hear Fiebich’s results. 

“I’m on the phone and I’m hearing the words that I was fearing [which] was she has a fracture. I’m waiting for the next sentence to be, ‘And she’s out for the game.’ And I’m watching on TV and Leo is checking into the basketball game,” Kolb said. 

It was a remarkable showing of Fiebich’s toughness. She finished with three points, three rebounds and one assist in 28 minutes. 

Overall, Fiebich took a big leap in her sophomore season as a permanent starter after replacing Courtney Vandersloot in the starting lineup during the 2024 playoffs. 

Fiebich, for the second season in a row, was one of the league’s most efficient shooters as she averaged 8.7 points while shooting 48.9 percent from the field, 42.5 percent from 3-point range and 87.1 percent from the free-throw line.