SAN FRANCISCO — Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu’s status for Tuesday’s game in her native Bay Area remains up in the air.
Ionescu, who’s missed three of the Liberty’s past four games with injuries, went through an individual workout Monday afternoon and is “progressing,” according to coach Sandy Brondello.
“She knows her body,” Brondello said. “We don’t know if [she will play] tomorrow or not. … We’ll see.”
Ionescu is considered “day to day” after she hurt the big toe on her left foot toward the end of Wednesday’s practice.
The toe injury came less than a week after Sky center Kamilla Cardoso hurt Ionescu’s left foot during a collision for a loose ball.
This is the second time that Ionescu heads into a homecoming game with questionable status.
The last time the Liberty played at Chase Center, Ionescu had a stiff neck that made it hard to move her head.
In 36 games this season, Ionescu is averaging 18.8 points, 5.8 assists and 4.9 rebounds.
Nyara Sabally, who hasn’t played since before the All-Star break, is listed as questionable for Tuesday’s game.
Sabally has started the ramp up process in recent days.
Practice makes perfect
Two days after Breanna Stewart called out her team’s play for being “not good enough” the Liberty regrouped on a gym court in San Francisco.
Practice during the WNBA season is a luxury that scheduling constraints don’t always allow for.
But the Liberty used a rare off-day to get into a gym and work through some of the team’s issues, especially on defense, and Emma Meesseman believes a practice like Monday’s was exactly “what we needed.”
“It was good practice because we had a chance to go a little bit harder with contact, talk through a lot of stuff,” she said. “It felt good. I feel like we’re a little bit more on the same page and we can actually work on it in live basketball.”
The Liberty’s overall defense ranked in the top three in 2024, but this season has been a different story.
It doesn’t help that players have been in and out of the lineup because of injuries, which has hurt the team’s ability to form overall chemistry.
But Meesseman believes the Liberty defense is improving.
“We changed up some things and we kind of took the time to define that [defensive] identity a little bit the past two days. So after this practice, I’m looking forward to actually bring it on the court [Tuesday] to see how we adapt, how well we are able to execute it. I do have the hope and confidence that what we did today is going to help us in the future.”
