Following the New York Liberty’s loss against the Connecticut Sun on Friday, the game plan was expected to be different for Sunday’s rematch. The change was noticeable immediately, and it was Sabrina Ionescu leading the charge.
New York’s star guard was more aggressive offensively rather than trying to play the role of facilitator, which she executed in a dominant fashion in an 87-78 victory. Ionescu finished the game with a season-high 36 points on 64% shooting. She also led the Liberty on the boards, hauling in 11, with three coming on the offensive end.
Ionescu scored her team’s first eight points and assisted on the next basket. She had 16 of the Liberty’s 25 first-quarter points and didn’t slow down the rest of the game.
The Sun spread the ball, and seven players scored in the first quarter to try to keep up with Ionescu, but Tina Charles contributed the most in the frame with six points. New York was feeding off its point guard and had the energy to win the rebound battle, allowing it to take a 25-19 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Sun’s main priority was to stop Ionescu in the second quarter, and they had some success with that, holding her to four points in the frame. However, Jonquel Jones stepped into the scoring role and tallied 13 by the end of the first half.
The Liberty played a sturdier defense than in the last outing, but rookie Aneesah Morrow found a way to get past to notch six points in the final four minutes of the second half. Morrow and Charles’ eight points each in the first half led the Sun, but they still trailed 45-38.
Similar to just two days prior, neither team could clean up their turnover problems. New York gave up the ball 13 times in the first half and 22 times in the game. Connecticut had 10 turnovers in the first half, but only lost the ball five more times in the game.
Charles knocked down a three less than a minute into the third quarter to become the first Sun player to reach double figures and cut the deficit to 45-41. New York, though, had a response in Ionescu and Emma Meesseman.
When Connecticut slowed down one Liberty player, another one got hot. Jones wasn’t able to get a bucket in the third quarter, but Ionescu scored nine and Meesseman had seven.
Ionescu attempted and made her first triple of the game to start pulling away from the Sun 57-48 with 5:17 left in the third quarter. Morrow, Charles, and Marina Mabrey led the offensive production in the frame, and their combined 16 points put the score at 66-57, still in New York’s advantage.
New York continued to create distance between the teams on the scoreboard, with the efforts fueled by the trio of Ionescu, Jones, and Meesseman. The Sun still couldn’t stop everyone at once, and the Liberty continued to take advantage of that.
Meesseman made her Liberty debut Sunday, but was limited by head coach Sandy Brondello to 17 minutes. She scored seven of her 11 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter, but was solid everywhere on the floor. She went 3-of-7 from the field and made all five attempts from the free throw line. She also grabbed two rebounds, assisted three times, and blocked a shot.
Jones does anything and everything needed of her and finished the day with 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block.
Connecticut found a spark halfway through the final quarter after Bria Hartley stole the ball and assisted on Olivia Nelson-Ododa’s layup. Hartley followed it up with a three to cut the score to 78-68. New York took a timeout and denied any Sun points for nearly three minutes after the break.
Connecticut wasn’t going to accept the loss before the final buzzer, and Saniya Rivers knocked down a three-pointer to start a 9-0 run. There wasn’t enough time for a comeback, though, and the Liberty came away with the nine-point win.
