rewrite this content and keep HTML tags (remove this from content : rewrite this content and keep HTML tags)
BROOKLYN—It was anything but a lazy Sunday for the New York Liberty when they closed the weekend against the Connecticut Sun at Barclays Center.
New York put up a blowout of epic proportions against the Connecticut Sun in Brooklyn, earning a 100-52 victory to open Commissioner’s Cup pool play on a sterling note.
Sabrina Ionescu led the way with 18 points while her four fellow starters all posted plus/minuses of at least 40 while scroing 13 points each. Natasha Cloud and Breanna Stewart were at plus-44 each to share a new Liberty record while Jonquel Jones had 13 points and 10 rebounds, improving the Liberty’s record to 27-0 when she posts a double-double.
Becoming the first team in WNBA history to have a game with four players posting at least a plus-40 (and one of three teams overall to have more than in a single game) was but one bit of history that the Liberty (7-0) established on Sunday afternoon.
New York became the first WNBA team to have 10 different women sink at least at least one three-pointer in a regular season game (matching the overall record they set last postseason in the second-round) and it tied its own record with 19 three-pointers in a single game, previously posting that tally on May 22 in Chicago. The 59.3 percent success rate from is third-best in a single game with a minimum of 30 attempts.
The 48-point margin of victory was also the Liberty’s largest and second-best in WNBA history.
Furthermore, the Liberty have won each of their first seven games on the ledger for the first time since their inaugural season back in 1997. Perhaps the one record that wasn’t set was the Liberty’s all-time leader in successful three-pointers, thought Ionescu moved to within two triples of breaking Crystal Robinson’s long-standing record.
Elsewhere in individual accomplishments, Jones passed Teresa Weatherspoon for the eighth-most rebounds on the franchise ledgers. Marine Johannes posted her second game with a plus/minus of at least 22 this season, becoming just the seventh New Yorker to earn multiple such games off the bench.
The Liberty wasted no time establishing its dominance in the early going, rendering an early Connecticut challenge long-forgotten with a 10-0 run to close the first period. Leonie Fiebich scored half of the first 16 points and the Liberty registered assists on each of their first 19 sinks from the field. The advantage was up to 60-28 by halftime, satisfying an already jovial weekend crowd celebrating the birthday of the team’s elephant mascot Ellie.
Any bit of drama left appeared in the third period, when Ionescu was charged with a foul on Marina Mabrey in the third quarter. An animated Ionescu insisted that she was not responsible, using her shifted ponytail to make a case for head coach Sandy Brondello to challenge. When the replay monitor vindicated her, Ionescu joyfully interrupted an Ellie performance and high-fived anyone she could on the Liberty bench before taking her leave for the rest of the afternoon.
Jacy Sheldon and former Liberty star Tina Charles, still the team’s all-time scoring leader, had 10 points each for the rebuilding Sun (1-6), who returned to the loss column after earning an upset win over Caitlin Clark-less Indiana. It was a brutal day for Liberty nemesis Mabrey, who was 2-of-11 from the field and a WNBA all-time worst minus-55 in 28 minutes. Prior to tip-off, the Liberty honored Sun associate head coach Roneeka Hodges, who was presented with her championship ring earned as an assistant coach in New York last season.
New York and Connecticut will do battle again in a back-to-back in Uncasville at the start of August. In the meantime, the Liberty are back in action on Thursday night when they face the Washington Mystics on the road (7:30 p.m. ET, WNYW).
Make sure you bookmark Liberty on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns as and so much more!
