NEW YORK (AP) — Liberty star Breanna Stewart's status for Game 2 of the WNBA playoffs against the Mercury is questionable after she injured her left knee in overtime of the postseason opener.
Stewart didn't practice Tuesday and coach Sandy Brondello said they'd see how the forward felt after shootaround on Wednesday. Stewart had an MRI on Monday and the coach said it was “relatively clean.”
“It’s going to be a game-day, game-time decision,” Brondello said. “So your guess is as good as mine. We’ll see how she goes tomorrow. We’ll give her as much time as we can."
Stewart watched from the sideline during the portion of practice that was open to media and had a sleeve on her left leg. She wasn’t made available to media afterward.
The Liberty won the opener in overtime over Phoenix on Sunday and if the Mercury win on Wednesday, Game 3 would be Friday in Phoenix.
“We’re ready to go. Stewie’s in, Stewie’s out. We’re ready to go. We know what’s at stake,” Brondello said. "We don’t want to go back to Phoenix, but they’re going to come in hungry. We know that.”
Stewart injured the knee when she drove to the baseline and was fouled with 3:01 left in overtime of Game 1. The knee appeared to buckle and she went down and grabbed it. After a New York timeout, Stewart attempted a free throw but missed it. She wore a knee brace after the injury, then came out a minute later.
Stewart, who had 18 points and six rebounds before leaving the game, missed about a month of the season with a bone bruise on the other knee, suffered in late July.
The Liberty have had a difficult season with injuries. Jonquel Jones missed significant time early in the year with a sprained ankle and Sabrina Ionescu was out for a few games late with a toe injury she suffered in practice.
“That's been our MO all season,” Jones said of the injuries.
If Stewart can't play Wednesday, New York has depth with Emma Meesseman, which it signed in August. Meesseman won a WNBA Finals MVP in 2019 while playing with Washington.
Phoenix players thought Stewart would play on Wednesday. Coach Nate Tibbets said the team would prepare for both scenarios.
“I feel like she's going to play,” Mercury forward Satou Sabally said. “But I also feel like we have to prepare with her or without her.”
Sabally had a tough Game 1, going 2 for 17 from the field. She had a positive mindset Tuesday.
“Trusting your own process, trusting what you've been doing all season long,” she said. “You really can't beat yourself up when you're having one bad game like this.”
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) grimaces after getting fouled by the Phoenix Mercury during the second half of Game 1 during the first round of the WNBA basketball playoffs Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)
New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, center, drives to the basket between Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner, left, and Alyssa Thomas, right, during the first half of Game 1 in the first round of the WNBA basketball playoffs Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado discussed her country's future with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, even though he has dismissed her credibility to take over after an audacious U.S. military raid captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela and signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s No. 2. Along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations and was set to deliver her first state of the union speech Thursday.
In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She also had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been looking forward to the lunchtime meeting with Machado and called her “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela. But Leavitt also said Trump's opinion of Machado had not changed, calling it "a realistic assessment."
Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.
Leavitt went on to say that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.
Leavitt said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.
“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”
Machado spent about two and a half hours at the White House but left without answering questions on whether she'd offered to give her Nobel prize to Trump, saying only “gracias."
After her White House stop, Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate. Her Washington visit began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela.
It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.
Leavitt said Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and that Rodríguez's government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.
Rodríguez has adopted a less strident position toward Trump then she did immediately after Maduro's ouster, suggesting that she can make the Republican administration's “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, work for Venezuela — at least for now.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”
Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.”
Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize. She has since thanked Trump, though her offer to share the honor with him was rejected by the Nobel Institute.
Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.
Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gestures to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado smiles on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
