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As they limped into the fourth quarter tied Tuesday night, the Liberty looked like a team ready for a monthlong break.
They’d played an exceptionally sloppy third quarter against the Sun and seemed desperate to simply get through the final 10 minutes before going on hiatus.
Thanks to Sabrina Ionescu, they’ll have nice memories of their last moments of game action until they play again.
Ionescu led the Liberty to an 82-74 victory over the WNBA’s second-best team with 30 points, including a 3-pointer that broke a 63-63 tie to open the final period.
She followed that up with a rebound to start a fast break that ended with her dishing to Kennedy Burke in the paint for a 68-63 lead.
It was the 13th time Ionescu has tallied at least 30 points and the Liberty improved their league-best record to 21-5, despite missing stars Breanna Stewart (load management) and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (knee) for the second straight game.
Ionescu, who will be an Olympian for the first time, was not perfect, committing seven turnovers.
But teammate Courtney Vandersloot scored eight points, and Leionie Fiebich and Kennedy Burke had nine each.
After a hot first quarter that saw the Liberty hold 66 percent shooting from the three-point line, things cooled down, seeing the Liberty scoreless for nearly the last three minutes of the second quarter.
Into the third quarter, things didn’t improve.
With under seven minutes to go, Ionescu was called for a traveling violation — her fifth of the night — that led to a layup from Bioanna Jones.
On the following possession, Vandersloot gave up a bad pass for another turnover that led to two free throws from DeJonai Carrington to inch closer to the Liberty lead, 52-50.
Towards the end of the quarter, Vandersloot had another foul to lead Carrington to the charity stripe followed by a turnover from Jonquel Jones.
The sloppiness led to a 63-63 end of the quarter.
The Liberty gave away 21 turnovers on the night that yielded 21 points for the Sun.
In the Liberty’s previous meeting with the Sun on July 10, Connecticut limited the Liberty to only 13 three-pointers, of which they only made three.
On Tuesday, the Sun gave New York those shots and they made 7 of 15 in the opening half, of which Ionescu made four — one of which was a momentum shifter in the first quarter.
Nyara Sabally made a pick for the star guard at the top of the key and on the move Ionescu was fouled, making a four point play, which gave the Liberty a nine point lead 28-19.
They shot 40.7 percent from beyond the arc, going 11-for-27.
Alyssa Thomas, who was held to only three points in the last meeting, scored 16 along with eight rebounds.
Thomas and Brioanna Jones dominated the paint, offensively and on the boards. to help propel Connecticut to the comeback in the third quarter
The Sun bested the Liberty in the paint with 40 points to New York’s 26.
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