In front of the biggest crowd ever to watch the WNBA at Barclays Center on July 11, the New York Liberty faced a challenge heading into the fourth quarter, holding on to a one-point lead against the Chicago Sky.
A little over halfway through the fourth quarter, guard Sabrina Ionescu wrapped things up, hitting two threes in less than a minute to put the Liberty up nine. After starting the game 0-for-7 from the field, Ionescu finished with 21 points and six rebounds to help defeat the Sky 91-76.
Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello praised Ionescu’s resilience after picking things up later in the game. “I know Sabrina had a pretty, you know, her untypical start to the game,” Brondello said, “but you never can keep her down for more than 20 minutes, and she showed that in the second half.”
It was a great all-around performance for the Liberty (19-4), who had five players score in double figures. Forward Breanna Stewart and center Jonquel Jones combined for 37 points, with Jones also posting 13 rebounds and four blocks. Leonie Fiebich had 13 points on 4-for-5 shooting from three, and Kayla Thornton was a spark off the bench with 16 points and four steals.
It was a strong defensive finish for New York, which remains atop the WNBA standings. The Sky were held to just 7-for-20 shooting in the fourth, with Jones highlighting the performance with a big block on forward Angel Reese down the stretch.
Reese managed to barely record her WNBA record fifteenth straight double-double, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Chennedy Carter looked impressive, going for a game-high 22 points and five assists.
Brondello noticed that Reese was able to continue her streak but was happy that the Liberty held her to 5-for-17 shooting from the field. “We made it hard for her. She still got a double-double, so the fans love that,” she said.
It was tightly contested in the opening moments, with both teams failing to shoot over 50% in the first quarter. Carter carried the load on offense in the period, scoring nine points to start the game. The Liberty were held to only six made field goals in the first, which allowed the Sky to grab a 22-19 lead at the end of the quarter.
Chicago continued that momentum into the start of the second, going up by as much as 13 points with five minutes left until the half. Halfway through the quarter, the Liberty finally woke up and began to come back. Forward Breanna Stewart scored seven straight as part of a 14-1 run, tying the game on Sabrina Ionescu’s first made field goal with under two minutes to play in the second.
The Sky took a two-point lead into halftime, but it didn’t even take a minute for the Liberty to take the lead back for the first time since the first quarter. After that, the game reverted to a back-and-forth affair. Ionescu started to feel it on offense in the third quarter, getting to 10 points by the start of the fourth.
After a lackluster first half, Ionescu talked about her mentality going into halftime and the second half, which caused her to be the team’s spark. “I kind of hung my head at halftime and then came back to start that third with kind of an understanding that I need to go out there and get the ball in the basket for this team to win,” she said.
The fourth quarter was a completely different story, as New York started to get hot and eventually cruised to the win.
The Liberty will travel to Chicago to play the Sky again on Saturday, looking to complete a two-game sweep.
