Sabrina Ionescu, Caitlin Clark Light Up Liberty vs. Fever 1st Half
This weekend, Gainbridge Fieldhouse has hosted basketball mastery from some of the strongest backcourt talents on the hardwood ... also, the NBA Finals were in town.
A thrilling first half between the New York Liberty and hosting Indiana Fever saw their respective stars live up to their hyped reputations: Sabrina Ionescu and Caitlin Clark each broke loose for string showings from deep as the latter's Fever built a 53-50 lead over undefeated New York at halftime.
CAITLIN CLARK WITH BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK THREES 💰 pic.twitter.com/ZASVisSIdR
— ESPN (@espn) June 14, 2025
Clark, back on the floor for the first time after a quad injury kept her out for the five previous games, scored 25 on her own, helping the Fever overcome an early deficit that summitted at 11. Clark put forth deep, deep balls in her quest, sinking six in the opening 20 minutes alone. The 25 points that Clark tallied are the highest she has had in any first half of her brief WNBA career.
Sabrina Ionescu hits the three ball as time expires in the first half! 🗽
— New York Liberty Videos (@SNYLiberty) June 14, 2025
(via @WNBA) pic.twitter.com/o7JvEcFXOq
Not to be outdone was Ionescu, who earned 17 points on 6-of-10 from the field on a day where the Liberty were missing both Leonie Fiebich and Jonquel Jones from their starting lineup. The top pick of the 2020 draft also made new brands of history.
With her first double of the day, Ionescu reached 2500 points for her WNBA career and she also picked up her 900th assist. At 153 games, she's the fastest in WNBA history to reach that latter landmark.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.