SEATTLE — Liberty forward Satou Sabally is sidelined indefinitely after entering concussion protocol.
Sabally was initially listed as questionable with a head injury ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Storm. The team updated the injury report the day of the game, ruling her out as part of concussion protocol.
Sabally departed with 6:17 left in the second quarter of Tuesday’s win in Las Vegas. She didn’t rejoin the team on the floor after halftime, and was ruled out by the end of the third quarter with what the team termed a facial injury.
Sabally was hit in the head by NaLyssa Smith’s arm while both players attempted to rebound the ball near the 5:31 mark of the first quarter. Sabally was called for the foul, and checked out of the game shortly thereafter.
The Liberty submitted the play to the league for review.
Coach Chris DeMarco told The Post that he was “of course” surprised the foul went against Sabally.
“She got hit in the head,” DeMarco said. “I mean, [the officials] didn’t even look at it. But is what it is. [It’s] one of those things… if you’re gonna look at others, to look at that one. But more than anything, I just feel bad for Satou and her having to go through this again.”
After the game, DeMarco said Sabally wasn’t being evaluated for a concussion. On Thursday, he said the team “didn’t know right away” and that Sabally had “delayed onset symptoms.”
Sabally will stay with the team for the remainder of the trip. The Liberty head to the Bay Area to play the Valkyries on Sunday. On Tuesday, they face the Aces at Barclays Center in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game.
DeMarco said Sabally is in “good spirits.”
“It’s not easy for anybody, and then you know adding in a Commissioner’s Cup game makes it even more tricky going forward with,” DeMarco said. “She will be day to day, but just figuring out when we’ll have her back.
“But more than anything, we’re concerned obviously for her health and well-being. We want her to feel good, and it’s just disappointing because she’s playing so well. She’s done such a great job getting herself back to the point where she was competing in high minutes, and hopefully just a little bit of a setback and we can keep it moving. But yeah, she’s out there playing so hard, so you feel bad for her.”
Sabally was previously diagnosed with a concussion eight months ago.
Sabally was helped off the floor in Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals, and missed the last game of the series as her Mercury lost to the Aces.
Lingering concussion symptoms kept Sabally sidelined through the Unrivaled season. She didn’t return to basketball activities until March.
Sabally was the biggest outside free agent the Liberty signed this offseason. She missed the first few games of the season due to a cyst, and was also sidelined because of an undisclosed illness.
Sabally returned to the starting lineup Sunday after coming off the bench for eight games. She’s averaging 10.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from 3-point range in 13 games.
The Liberty also will be without Breanna Stewart (rest) Thursday night.
Stewart has played no fewer than 28 minutes in each of the Liberty’s first 18 games. She’s logged 30-plus minutes in seven of the team’s past eight games.
“We’ve been playing her a lot and then again, we added a game, so all of a sudden the schedule looks a little bit different,” DeMarco explained. “We want to obviously have everyone healthy and be at our best toward the end of the season and talking to performance, it just seemed like this is the … game in the schedule where you could buy some more time before getting her back.”
