Sabrina Ionescu’s first WNBA game in Oregon will likely have to wait another season.
The New York Liberty guard, a former University of Oregon standout, is sidelined by a left foot injury which will cause her to miss games Tuesday and Thursday against the expansion Portland Fire at the Moda Center.
With Ionescu out, the Liberty have turned to Marine Johannes, who scored a career-high 25 points — making six 3-pointers — in a 98-93 overtime victory at Washington on Sunday.
Breanna Stewart had 23 points and nine rebounds as New York improved to 2-0. Rookie Pauline Astier, Johannes’ fellow Frenchwoman, added 18 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals and Jonquel Jones had 13 points and eight rebounds.
“She’s a really special player,” Liberty coach Chris DeMarco said of Johannes. “She needs to have confidence, and we’re gonna live with the mistakes she makes. And it’s really part of her greatness and her all-around game. And I think for her, I just really like the compete-level defensively right now. And I think that carries over to the offensive side, like, you’re doing the right thing defensively, you’re playing hard offensively, the basketball gods tend to find you in situations that benefit you and our team really.”
The Fire drew a crowd of 19,335 for their season opener Saturday, a WNBA record for an expansion team’s first game. Portland lost 98-83 to Chicago despite 18 points from Carla Leite and 13 apiece from Sarah Ashlee Barker and Bridget Carleton.
“I always heard things here and there about Portland and the women’s sports fandom there is here, but never knew too much about it,” Carleton said. “Even this past week, feeling it on social media, feeling it in the city. Going on a walk and people recognize me already, and I hadn’t even played a game yet. It was just incredible.
“The amount of support, how excited people were to see us and meet us and be a part of this experience, it’s been surreal.”
–Field Level Media
