EUGENE, Ore. — Sabrina Ionescu drained her sixth 3 of the game Monday night and smiled as the Matthew Knight Arena crowd rose to its feet.
What happened next was a curtain call five years in the making.
As her Liberty teammates and the visitor Toyota Antelopes made their ways to the bench, Ionescu walked to the middle of the “O” at center court and soaked it all in.
Ionescu finished with a game-high 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting to lead the Liberty to a 84-61 win in New York’s preseason finale.
“This is something in my career that I will never forget is being able to come back and play a game at the University of Oregon,” Ionescu said.
“We had planned on 25 minutes and then I said I’d take her out,” coach Sandy Brondello said. “She just said, ‘Am I coming out?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, you’re coming out.’ And she said, ‘Yeah, that’s good. Let me just say goodbye to the crowd.’
“So I thought it was a really special moment for her.”
Breanna Stewart also had a stellar preseason debut with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting in 15 minutes.
The Liberty collectively looked a whole lot better in their preseason finale than they did in their loss to the Connecticut Sun on Friday night at Barclays Center.
“The first half wasn’t great for us,” Brondello said. “But the second half [was better], making the adjustments and getting a little bit more physicality and staying in plays and being a little bit more persistent.”
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As much as Monday’s game was about Ionescu and Nyara Sabally’s return to Oregon, it was also the Liberty’s final tuneup before their title defense opens Saturday against the Las Vegas Aces.
“There’s obviously stuff that we need to fine-tune but it is the beginning of the season,” Stewart said. “Making it tough for the other team on our defense and rebounding the ball a little bit better.”
