There is still one basketball team alive in New York City, the defending champs, and they show no signs of letting up.
The undefeated New York Liberty out played and dominated the Connecticut Sun for a 100-52 trouncing on Sunday afternoon. The Liberty’s 7-0 record has tied for the best start to a season in their franchise’s history since 1997, when the league first came into existence. The Liberty also established a new franchise record for margin of victory with a 48-point difference, which is also good enough for the second-largest margin of victory in WNBA league history.
Former Oregon Ducks All-American and National Player of the Year point guard Sabrina Ionescu had her fingerprints all over the historic performance for the Liberty by doing a little bit of everything, with 18 points, five assists, two rebounds, two steals, a block, & four three-pointers made. Ionescu’s outing was especially off the chart because she delivered this masterpiece in just 19 minutes of game time. Liberty stars Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Leonie Fiebich also contributed 13 points each.
“It was great to see the contribution from everyone. Everyone scored and contributed in an impactful way from start to finish…We knew there were 17,000 fans tonight. There were new fans…they didn’t know we had four in six days,” Ionescu said of their historic performance and the raucous atmosphere in the arena.
Ionescu and the Liberty now have a relatively-long four-day break so they can practice and get some rest before facing the Washington Mystics on Thursday on Prime Video. The Liberty are experiencing one of the hottest starts in WNBA history, and Ducks legend Ionescu is a huge reason for it, having the best season of the star-latent team that is coming off a WNBA title against the Minnesota Lynx. As the WNBA currently has multiple marque players sidelined due to injury, the Liberty could take a strangle hold and establish a nice cushion in the standings, which will benefit them in the long term in case they have to go through their own injury woes or should any team catch fire later in the season.
Embed from Getty ImagesIonescu has been on a heater in the last three games and playing some of the best basketball of her five-year career. On Thursday against the expansion team Golden State Valkyries, Ionescu dominated with 24 points, six rebounds, four assists, and a block. On a back-to-back against the Mystics, Ionescu had a fantastic, all-around game, tallying 28 points, five assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Ionescu is expected to be in the conversation for the All-WNBA first team and potentially the MVP race if this form continues.
“Our defense really started that. We’re a great transition team. I think that’s our best offense —is being able to get out and run, post players can bring the ball up. I think the gravity that we all have, we understand how valuable that is,” Ionescu said of their fast pace.
Ionescu is also close to a major milestone with 400 career three-pointers made. After Sunday, Ionescu sits at 399 career three-pointers made and will almost assuredly make history in their next game this coming Thursday on a national stage. The former Ducks record setter is continuing the trend of reaching new heights at the professional level.
“It was fun. It’s fun to be a part of,” Liberty coach Brondello said after the game. “I’m sure it was fun for them to play. But their commitment to excellence. I mean, we don’t have to push them too hard because we’ve got some of the best players here, and they want to be great.”
