Sabrina Ionescu, Liberty End Preseason on a High Note
Having wiped away the rust in a Tuesday shellacking, the New York Liberty got recharged by the Connecticut Sun in a preseason rematch of last season's tightly-contested WNBA semifinal series.
The bearers of seafoam ended the preseason on a high note, taking a narrow 82-79 decision from Connecticut at Mohegan Sun Arena. Sabrina Ionescu led New York with 15 points while Betnijah Laney-Hamilton earned most of her 14 on a perfect 4-of-4 outing from three-point range.
"Our response, being able to put that last game behind us, understanding that that's not the way we can play, whether it's preseason or not, really showed us being able to come together, trusting each other, not overreact from the last game," Ionescu said. "I think it was really nice to come out and play our style of basketball and get back to it, knowing that we have to take it up a notch next week as well."
The Liberty (1-1) stayed upbeat despite enduring a 48-point defeat in their exhibition opener in Chicago on Tuesday and managed to somewhat right the seafoam ship with a cleaner offensive opening. New York found slicker penetration and boosted its lead to as high as nine before the first period let out.
Ivana Dojkic, formerly of Seattle, capped off a 16-8 New York run with her first unofficial Liberty points, a three-pointer at the onset of the final minute of the first.
"I think it was being able to get that first game out of the way," Ionecu said. "I think just getting that first game out of the way kind of just knocked some dust off and helped us take a better approach coming into this game, understanding that it's our last opportunity to play together and prep for the regular season."
"All of us (starters) understood collectively that we weren't going to play the entire game, but the minute that we did play to start the game, we knew we needed to come out and play our style of basketball just to prepare for next week. We were able to do that and that helped the bench come out and do the same."
Connecticut (0-1) recovered well enough to lower the lead to three by halftime and took an immediate lead to the tune of back-to-back DeWanna Bonner triples. The metropolitan starters were able to close things out on a high note, as three consecutive triples from Ionescu, Laney-Hamilton, and Courtney Vandersloot established an eight-point lead for their young understudies.
Rookie first-rounder Marqueshia Davis immediately provided a double-figure lead upon her entry, setting the tone for the backups and tipping off a perfect 4-of-4 night from two-point range.
Satisfied with the primary women's output, the Liberty played their young backups for the entire fourth quarter, matching up against an experienced Connecticut bench that featured establshed WNBA talent like Rachel Banham, Astou Ndour-Fall, and Olivia Nelson-Ododa. The Sun's subs wound up erasing a 15-point New York lead, swiping the advantage on the last of Banham's 20 points (part of a 6-of-10 output from three).
Undrafted rookie Jaylyn Sherrod wound up playing the heroine for the Liberty, scoring the game-winner on an interception-turned-fastbreak with 36 seconds remaining. New York then forced Connecticut into a shot clock violation before Sherrod free throws created the final margin and matched with Davis and Dojkic as the leading bench scorer with eight apiece.
"It's a great learning experience for those young players," head coach Brondello said. "We made some mistakes but they didn't get too down on themselves. They kept competing, and that's all you can ask from them. We're really proud of them. They were really resilient and defense won it in the end with Jaylyn getting that steal."
With their brief preseason schedule out of the way, the Liberty officially tip off the 2024 season on Tuesday night against the Washington Mystics (7 p.m. ET, WWOR).
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks