Sabrina Ionescu is having a down year, but she's making it work
Sabrina Ionescu hit one of the biggest shots in basketball history last October, a Game 3 game-winner in the WNBA Finals, en route to her first WNBA championship.
'It's a shot that I take often,' she said. 'I take it in practice, I take it before the games. It's not like a Hail Mary, hope-this-goes-in. Once I got it off, I was like, 'Yeah, this is it.''
She followed that massive moment up with another All-Star season, this time averaging a career-best points per game.
Ionescu is an All-Star for the fourth time in her career, adding another accolade to an accolade-filled resume.
The 5'11 guard is the NCAA's all-time leader in triple-doubles, was the Naismith College Player of the Year her senior year at Oregon, and has been a three-time member of the All-WNBA Second Team.
And, she famously holds the record for most threes made at an All-Star three-point contest at either the NBA or WNBA level — that record was set when she hit 25 of 27 attempts en route to 37 points in 2023.
This season, Sabrina Ionescu has struggled offensively
The Liberty's title defense season hasn't been all smooth sailing. While the team was dominant at full strength, things haven't been the same since last year's Finals MVP, Jonquel Jones, went down with injury.
They've dropped five of their last ten games, and Ionescu has been in a bit of a slump herself. On Saturday, in a narrow win over the Dream, Ionescu scored 9 points on just 3 of 20 shooting. On Wednesday, she followed that up with a 15-point, 5-14 shooting performance (albeit alongside 9 assists).
This season, the former Oregon star has averaged 18.8 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game. She's shooting 38% from the field and 30.9% from three, both career lows.
Still, she'll partake in the WNBA All-Star three-point contest on Friday, where she'll instantly be one of the headliners, alongside Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and several others, including Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray, and Washington Mystics rookie Sonia Citron.
And, almost inevitably, she'll soon find her rhythm. The Liberty guard holds the record for most threes made in a single WNBA season (128 in 2023). That season, she shot a ridiculous 44.8% from three. Since then, she's hit plenty of big ones.
Amid the shooting struggles, Ionescu is getting to the line more than ever before, attempting 4.9 free throws per night on a ridiculous 93.4% shooting. Her defense is better than ever, and she's averaging a career-best 1.6 steals.
Ionescu, despite some uncharacteristic shooting struggles, remains critical for the Liberty's repeat hopes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hawks 'villains' out to spoil Blues' Docherty farewell
Hawthorn have accepted the role of "villains" as they set out to boost their AFL finals hopes in Carlton hero Sam Docherty's farewell match. Fresh off a win over Port Adelaide, the fifth-placed Hawks (12-6) enter Thursday night's MCG contest as warm favourites intent on locking in a top-eight spot. But the embattled Blues (7-11, 12th) eased pressure on coach Michael Voss with a much-needed win over Melbourne last round and have plenty to play for despite their lowly ladder position. Docherty, who has twice beaten testicular cancer, will play his 184th and final match in a celebrated career that has included three knee reconstructions, a best-and-fairest award and All-Australian selection. Carlton will be desperate to send off Docherty in the right manner and give vice-captain Jacob Weitering something to celebrate in his 200th game. Last time out on the track 🥺#ThankYouDoc — Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) July 23, 2025 "We've been dealt the cards of the villain for this one," Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said. "The thing about Sam is it's beyond sport. He's got the three knee reconstructions and coming back from that and still being an All-Australian type player. "But then obviously his cancer treatments and coming back from that means it transcends sport. It's such an inspirational person that he's been. "We'll certainly be trying to ruin his party, but after that I certainly think he's one of the players of this season that needs to be celebrated." Hawthorn have beaten Carlton in their last two meetings, but Mitchell is wary, noting the Blues are the highest-scoring team in first quarters this season. "You can see that they're more than capable and they're going to be playing for a bit with Docherty and a 200th game as well," Mitchell said. "They're going to have a fair bit on, so you'd expect them to come out with a lot of energy and vibrancy." Hawthorn sit two games clear of ninth but face a tough run home, with games against finals-bound Adelaide, Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions in the last month of the home-and-away campaign. "Every game is as good as a final," Mitchell said. "We understand where we sit and we need to make sure we're very focused on getting the best outcome we can." The Hawks will be bolstered by the return of young gun Will Day from a foot injury when they play their first game at the MCG since May. Mitch Lewis has recovered well from his comeback match last week and will back up, but teammate Finn Maginness has been ruled out for the rest of the season because of a lacerated kidney. Carlton key forward Harry McKay is able to return for his first game since round 11 after recovering from minor knee surgery.
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Bueckers reaches double figures for 19th straight game as Wings beat short-handed Storm 87-63
SEATTLE (AP) — Arike Ogunbowale scored 20 points including four 3-pointers, Paige Bueckers had 14 points for her 19th straight double-digit game to begin her career, and the Dallas Wings beat the short-handed Seattle Storm 87-63 on Tuesday night. Bueckers also had six assists to tie Caitlin Clark's WNBA record for the fastest player to reach 300 points and 100 assists. Skylar Diggins, Seattle's leader with 17.5 points and 5.8 assists per game, did not play due to personal reasons. Dallas trailed 36-26 with 1:33 left in the second quarter before scoring the final eight points of the half, capped by Ogunbowale's 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left. The Wings also started the third on a 9-0 run for a 43-36 lead following the 17-0 run around the halftime break. Li Yueru, the former Seattle center, made a 3-pointer from the corner to extend Dallas' lead to 77-58 with 4:46 left. The Wings outscored the Storm 53-27 in the second half. Luisa Geiselsoder added 13 points and Yueru had eight points and 10 rebounds for Dallas (7-17), which snapped a four-game losing streak. Ogunbowale made her first four 3-point attempts. Seattle (14-10) was led by Nneka Ogwumike's 22 points. Gabby Williams had 14 points, six rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Ezi Magbegor had 12 points and nine rebounds. Seattle's reserves were outscored for the 10th straight game. ___ AP WNBA:
Associated Press
9 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Wilson's double-double, Evans' spark off the bench lead Aces past Dream 87-72
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A'ja Wilson had 24 points and 12 rebounds, Dana Evans provided a spark off the bench and the Las Vegas Aces won three straight games for the first time this season with an 87-72 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday night. Evans scored the first nine points of the second quarter to give the Aces the lead for good and finished with 14 points. Jackie Young added 14 points for Las Vegas (12-11), which plays its next four on the road. NaLyssa Smith had 11 points. Allisha Gray led the Dream (13-10) with 24 points and eight rebounds. Jordan Canada added 12 points. Atlanta is without All-Star and leading scorer Rhyne Howard due to a knee injury. She missed the last two games before the All-Star break and will miss at least four more. A 3-pointer by Te-Hina Paopao had the Dream within 68-62 with 7:48 to play, but the Aces had a seven-point run to get the lead back to 13 points and Atlanta never threatened again. The Dream led 27-20 after one quarter behind Gray's 12 points and a closing 15-3 run. Atlanta was 7 of 15 overall, but 5 of 8 behind the arc and were plus-8 from the foul line. The Dream were 4 of 19 from distance over the last three quarters and shot 38.5% overall. Evans put the Aces up 29-27 with her second quarter run and had 11 in the quarter when Vegas had a 25-12 advantage to lead 45-39 at the half. The Aces got the lead to 14 in the middle of the third quarter before the Dream cut the deficit to 67-59 entering the fourth. ___ AP WNBA:
