Sabrina Ionescu Notches First NBA Triple Double in Historic Performance
Once again, Sabrina Ionescu has made history.
A headline we grew so accustomed to during her college days at Oregon continued in the WNBA Tuesday night with the New York guard recording her first triple double as a pro in just her sixth game with the Liberty. Ionescu tallied 26 points (4-7 3pt FG), 12 assists, and 10 rebounds to become the youngest player in WNBA history (23 years, 5 months, 12 days) to record a triple double, in the Liberty's 86-75 win over the Minnesota Lynx.
She played 37 minutes, the most of any player on either team, and logged just the ninth triple double in WNBA regular season history, the first since Chelsea Gray pulled off the feat with the Los Angeles Sparks on July 7, 2019.
Ionescu got things going early when she drained a 3-point shot from the 25th anniversary logo as the shot clock expired early in the first quarter. She played with tons of confidence, knocking down shots and gliding effortlessly off the ball to lose her defender.
She closed out the first quarter in style, zipping in a strong left-handed pass from the top of the key to DiDi Richards, one of her four assists in the opening frame, to give the Liberty a slim 23-21 lead.
The hiccups were minimal, but came when the Lynx defenders gained good positioning to block a few of her shots, one of them a chase down on a transition layup. Ionescu finished the night shooting 7-16 from the floor.
She heated up in the second quarter, scoring 11 points by hitting a pair of jump shots, a 3-pointer, and sinking 4 free throws.
Minnesota led New York at the half 45-43, and Ionescu was up to 16 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds.
The two teams went back and forth for much of the third quarter, which turned out to be Ionescu's most balanced statistically (5 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds). The triple double talk started late in the third quarter as the Liberty surged ahead, on top 62-55 into the fourth.
The 5'11" guard fired crisp, confident passes to her teammates all night, consistently making the extra pass to set up others and playing with precision on both give-and-go's and pick and roll drives.
The 2020 Wooden Award winner had the triple double wrapped up relatively early, snagging her tenth rebound with with 5:24 remaining. The Liberty were up 15 on the Lynx with just under three minutes left and went on to take home a convincing win.
New York moves to 3-0 to take over the top spot in the WNBA standings and will face the Washington Mystics (0-2) at 4 pm EST on Friday.
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