The wait is over.
After missing the first five games of the season, Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu is set to make her official season debut Sunday against the Dallas Wings.
“I haven’t missed that much so I don’t think it’s a huge emotional rollercoaster,” Ionescu said after Saturday’s practice. “It’s exciting for me to be able to play my kind of season opener. … So I’m excited. Feels like it’s been a while — it hasn’t — but it feels like it’s been forever just having to watch from the sidelines.”
Ionescu knew from the moment she went down, rolling her left ankle in the Liberty’s preseason finale earlier this month, that she likely would miss time. She underwent an MRI the following day that showed she avoided major injury.
“I could put weight on my foot, so I knew it wasn’t major, but it wasn’t not an injury,” Ionescu said. “I knew that from what it felt like. I knew I was gonna be out for a little bit and thankful I came back a lot sooner than I was supposed to, with returning now, so I’m really excited about that as well.”
Ionescu said she had some structural damage, “but thankfully it responded really quickly” and allowed her to return sooner than expected. She doesn’t anticipate the foot injury will be a lingering issue. She’s expected to have a minute restriction Sunday.
Ionescu said she feels great. She managed to maintain her conditioning over the course of her rehab process with two-a-day workouts that included a stationary bike and underwater treadmill.
“I don’t feel like my cardio dipped at all,” Ionescu said. “That’s why you come in really, really good shape for stuff like this.”
Ionescu’s return appeared imminent after the Liberty on Friday waived guard Julie Vanloo, whom the team signed to a hardship contract at the beginning of the season.
Ionescu rejoining the starting lineup likely means that rookie standout Pauline Astier will be moved to the bench. Astier started all five games in Ionescu’s absence, averaging 14.8 points, four rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals.
The Liberty are inching closer to being full strength for the first time this season.
Satou Sabally made her season debut in Thursday’s 87-70 loss to the Valkyries after dealing with discomfort from a cyst.
Raquel Carrera and Leonie Fiebich, who won the Spanish League championship for Valencia earlier this month, were seen at Saturday’s practice. Carrera has been in New York since Wednesday and is expected to make her WNBA debut Sunday. Meanwhile, Fiebich arrived Friday and could make her season debut as soon as Monday’s game against the Portland Fire.
Ionescu got a taste of playing in Chris DeMarco’s system during the preseason, but Sunday will be her first regular-season game. The team has opened the season 3-2 and is coming off a bad loss to Golden State.
The Liberty have been giving themselves some grace considering they’ve played shorthanded this entire season and are reintegrating players. On Thursday, that was Sabally. On Sunday, it will be Ionescu.
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But with the Liberty playing their second of seven consecutive games at home Sunday, Ionescu said there’s a universal desire to make improvements and take advantage of this rare long homestand.
“Any time you lose, there’s a little bit of a heightened sense of, ‘We got to continue to hone in on the things we got to work on,’ ” Ionescu said, “and obviously, not panic. There’s a lot of moving parts happening right now with people coming in, people coming in from overseas, integrating new players. It’s Game 5 of the season, so we’re right where we want to be, but we know we have a long way to go.”
