Liberty surpass last season’s win total on night Sabrina Ionescu logs first triple-double
NEW YORK — The Liberty only needed to win one more game to be better than they were last season. And it happened when the Liberty beat the Minnesota Lynx, 86-75, at Barclays Center on Tuesday night.
Win No. 3 aside, it was also a special night for Sabrina Ionescu, who raised her ceiling (if she ever had one), dropping her first triple-double in her WNBA career. And she did it by finally being able to play her third full game of a regular season. She finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
Even though the Liberty have practiced and preached a defense-first identity with offense to flow later (something Walt Hopkins said in 2020 of his system), what they’ve showed this year is the offensive juggernaut they’ve come to be.
But it hasn’t been easy. If Sunday’s win against the Indiana Fever was a grind, the Lynx proved just how much was in store for the budding Libs.
The Liberty went on a seemingly easy first-quarter run, holding the Lynx scoreless and simultaneously dropping 15 straight points on them. It was short lived. The Liberty outscored the Lynx 23-21 in that first, then committed seven turnovers in the second and went into the half down 45-43. Much like their first two games, however, the Liberty came alive in the second half, holding the Lynx to 10 and 20 points in the final two quarters.
Ionescu and Betnijah Laney helped keep the Libs afloat, showing just how dangerous their tag team has developed over these last three games.
On a last-second push to the basket with 20 seconds left in the second, Laney drove up the court, made a quick flip over to Ionescu on her left, who ran the final steps for an easy jump shot.
Laney continued to hype up the Libs with her scoring, creating shots where there seemingly weren’t any and dropping 20 points, two rebounds and five assists over 32 minutes of play. And that wasn’t even a testament to being on a streak, according to Hopkins.
“Honestly, I don’t even think Betnijah’s been hot, I just think that’s Betnijah,” Hopkins said before the game. “She’s been who she is.”
But it was Ionescu who improved most from her first two games of the season, hitting four of seven 3-point attempts.
With this game against the Lynx, the Liberty and Ionescu have tucked a lucky No. 3 under their belts.
