Sabrina Ionescu scored a season-high 36 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the visiting New York Liberty waved goodbye to a four-game losing streak with an 87-78 win over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday.
Ionescu recorded her first double-double of the year and her lone made 3-pointer was the 445th of her career, the most in franchise history, as the Liberty (18-10) ended their longest losing streak since 2022.
Jonquel Jones was also impressive, scoring 21 points and grabbing nine rebounds for New York, which won its 500th game in franchise history and is 2-1 against Connecticut this season.
The Liberty won despite still being without Breanna Stewart, who is averaging 18.3 points per game but missed her fourth game in a row with a knee bruise.
Adding Emma Meesseman to the roster helped, however. Signed on Friday, the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP chipped in 11 points.
Connecticut (5-22) was looking for back-to-back wins for the first time this season but couldn’t pull it off despite 17 points and eight rebounds from Tina Charles.
Aneesah Morrow added 16 points and nine boards, Bria Hartley scored 12 and Marina Mabrey contributed 10 points for the Sun, who have lost six of eight.
New York led 45-38 at halftime and took its first double-digit when Meesseman, playing in the league for the first time since 2022, hit two free throws for a 54-43 lead at the 6:24 mark.
The Liberty led 66-57 going into the final period and went on to avenge Friday’s 78-62 loss to the Sun in Uncasville.
Ionescu was on fire in the opening quarter with 16 points, giving her team a 20-19 lead with a layup while sparking a 6-0 run that gave the reigning WNBA champions a 25-19 edge after one.
Connecticut got as close as 39-36 on a 3-pointer by Bria Hartley with 2:57 remaining in the half.
But the Liberty responded with a 6-0 run, capped by Jones’ layup with 1:49 to go as New York went up 43-36.
New York scored 13 of its points off turnovers and shot 54.1 percent (20-of-37) from the field on its way to a seven-point advantage.
New York and Connecticut will play one final time this year when they meet Aug. 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
–Field Level Media
