It was fitting, then, that Kennedy Burke shot 5-of-6 to score 17 points off the bench, and was the player who made WNBA history, hitting the Liberty’s 19th three of the game...

It really was. The defending champion Liberty set a WNBA record with 19 3-pointers (in just 34 attempts) and shot 55.2 percent for the game in, yes, a 99-74 victory in the Sky’s home opener at Wintrust Arena. Chicago did have a plan, Vandersloot said, but you know what Mike Tyson used to say about those.

After making only four 3-pointers on 19 percent shooting in their season-opening win Saturday, the Liberty broke a league record Thursday for most 3-pointers by a team in a game. Kennedy Burke drained the Liberty’s 19th 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. As a team, they shot 55.9 percent from downtown.