Sabrina Ionescu’s late-game heroics propelled the Liberty to a 95-94 win against the Chicago Sky to help them enter the All-Star break on a good note.
Ionescu scored 12 of her team-high 29 points in the fourth quarter, going 4-for-5 from the field with three 3s in the final 10 minutes.
Then, Jonquel Jones sealed the win with a free throw.
Ionescu drilled a 3 to make it a five-point game with 56.1 seconds left in the fourth. The Liberty then forced the Sky into a 24-second shot clock violation with 31 seconds left.
New York took a timeout. Breanna Stewart inbounded the ball to Ionescu, who drilled a 3 to cut the Sky’s lead to two.
The Liberty needed a stop.
Stewart was called for a soft foul, sending her former teammate Courtney Vandersloot to the line with 26.3 seconds left.
Vandersloot split the free throws. Pauline Astier grabbed the rebound. The obvious answer was simple: Get the ball back in Ionescu’s hands and let her cook.
Astier found Ionescu, who dribbled around before driving to the lane for an and-1 layup that tied the score at 94 with 15.1 seconds left.
Vandersloot found Kamilla Cardoso, whose missed at the rim. Jones secured the rebound and was fouled with 3.4 seconds left.
Jones hit the free throw, but missed the second one.
It didn’t matter.
Vandersloot’s half-court heave was off the mark.
The Liberty picked up back-to-back wins for the first time in more than a month.
Monday’s overtime win in Dallas provided the Liberty with a little bit of relief. Their four-game losing streak came to a halt.
Maybe New York could garner some semblance of momentum heading into the All-Star break.
Ultimately, the Liberty found a way.
It got scary. The Liberty lost the third quarter and trailed by 12 with less than five minutes left in regulation. But New York managed to weather the adversity and keep momentum on their side every time the Sky tried to extinguish it.
Ionescu went 5-for-7 from deep and had four rebounds and four assists. Jones notched yet another double-double to finish with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Perhaps no one deserves this All-Star break more than Stewart, who had 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Speculation regarding Betnijah Laney-Hamilton’s future in New York continues to swirl as she didn’t play for the third straight game. The WNBA trade deadline is Aug. 2.
The Liberty will now go on break for the next few days, with All-Star events happening in Chicago on Friday and Saturday. They’ll regroup early next week in Los Angeles to open the second portion of their season.
