The New York Liberty are still figuring out how to play without Breanna Stewart, who is out with a bone bruise on her right knee. The struggle was evident during Friday’s 78-62 loss against the Connecticut Sun.
The teams faced two months prior, where the Liberty took a 48-point victory, but Friday’s game was a completely different look at Mohegan Sun. Connecticut took full advantage of New York’s poor performance on both ends of the floor and held them to a season-low 62 points.
A large reason for the Liberty’s woes was their turnovers. New York committed a season-high 23 turnovers and gave up 14 points on their errors. However, Connecticut wasn’t perfect either, and it allowed 15 points on its 17 turnovers.
New York forced a Connecticut timeout after Natasha Cloud made back-to-back shots to push the lead to 14-5 with 6:08 left in the first quarter. The short break seemed to be exactly what Connecticut’s Tina Charles needed, and she scored six of her team’s 10 points in the rest of the quarter to trail just 20-15.
Ionescu has been forced to step up even more than usual in scoring recently with Stewart out, but she was able to go back to her point guard roots and show off her passing skills. She had three of the Liberty’s six assists in the first quarter on seven made field goals.
Connecticut jumped on a 12-5 run to start the second quarter, not looking like the bottom team in the WNBA. A steal and free throw by Saniya Rivers tied the score at 25 with 7:08 left before halftime. Not even a minute later, a steal and a pair of free throws by Leïla Lecan gave the Sun the 27-25 lead.
The Sun ended the first half on a 10-point run, with Marina Mabrey contributing two points and assists in the span, and Olivia Nelson-Ododa adding six points. Charles closed out the second quarter with a buzzer-beating jumper to lead 44-37.
The group of Charles, Mabrey, Lecan, and Nelson-Ododa was on fire on offense, and Ionescu pulled her focus from facilitating the offense to scoring it in the third quarter, looking to combat the Sun’s production.
The Sun’s four were unstoppable, with Mabrey tallying 18 points, eight assists, and 10 rebounds. Nelson-Ododa and Lecan both scored 16 points in the game, and Nelson-Ododa was strong on defense, recording three blocks. Charles contributed 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals for her young team.
Ionescu contributed nine of New York’s 18 points in the frame, but it wasn’t enough as just two other Liberty players scored in the time. Jonquel Jones and Isabelle Harrison added the other five and four points, respectively, to trail 64-55 at the end of the third quarter.
The Liberty still couldn’t break out of their troubles, and Ionescu had an eight-second violation just two minutes into the final quarter.
Jones and Stephanie Talbot cut their deficit to 69-62 with five minutes remaining, but Nelson-Ododa and Mabrey took over in the final minutes, denying any Liberty points and scoring nine more to seal the deal on the win.
