Liberty defeat WNBA-leading Chicago Sky

With the family of Kobe Bryant in attendance, Sabrina Ionescu embraced her inner mamba.

Ionescu, the third-year Liberty guard, had a close relationship with Bryant before the NBA superstar died in a helicopter accident. And just like Bryant would have done, Ionescu wasn’t going to let anyone but herself determine the game’s fate.

With the Liberty trailing by two points coming out of a timeout with 19 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Ionescu drove the basket, made the layup and completed the three-point play with 9.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give the Liberty a one-point lead in their 83-80 victory over the Chicago Sky in WNBA action at the Barclays Center Saturday evening.

“She forced me right, so I just went right,” said Ionescu, who let out a loud roar to the crowd after making her layup. “The spacing was great, Coach drew up a good play and I didn’t want to just settle for a shot. I wanted to get to the basket.”

Candace Parker backed down Michaela Onyenwere on the ensuing possession, but Parker’s shot rimmed out. Onyenwere secured the rebound and made both foul shots to take an 83-80 lead with 1.8 seconds left in the contest.

Emma Meesseman missed a long three-pointer as time expired for the Sky.
The Liberty improved to 10-17. The Sky falls to 21-7 but still have the best record in the WNBA.

Ionescu finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.

“Sabrina loves that moment, she lives for that moment,” coach Sandy Brondello said. … “[She] just made really big plays and I’m so proud of her. She’s so tough-minded, she loves those moments so I’m glad she got rewarded and we got the win.”

Ionescu made a jumper with 36.3 seconds left in the contest to cut the Sky’s lead to 79-78 and Parker made 1 of 2 free throws with 19 seconds left to extend their lead to 80-78 before Ionescu’s basket.

The Liberty snapped a five-game losing streak and entered losing seven of their last eight. The Sky entered on a six-game winning streak and winners of 11 of their last 12 games.

“It’s a starting point,” Ionescu said. “You’ve got to start somewhere, that was a big win for us to snap a five-game losing streak. Just seeing a win sometimes is all you need to get a spark and continue to win games.”

The Liberty opened a fourth-quarter lead as large as 69-59 with 7:40 left following a three-pointer from Ionescu, but the Sky didn’t shy away. Chicago went on a 13-2 run, capped off by Parker’s basket off an offensive rebound to give the Sky a 72-71 lead with 3:08 left in the fourth quarter.

Marine Johannes made a key three-pointer to give the Liberty a 76-75 lead with 1:41 left in the fourth quarter.

“We found ourselves this game right here,” said Natasha Howard, who finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. “And we knew what it takes to win this game and we talked about it over and over again.”

The Liberty entered Saturday one game behind in the loss column for the final playoff spot with nine games left in the regular season.

Could this victory signify a change in the trajectory of the Liberty season?

“We had to dig deep to win it and I’m just happy,” Brondello said, “but we still have nine games to go so hopefully it will just give us a little bit of hope.”