With multiple starters sidelined, including reigning MVP Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu put the New York Liberty on her back on Tuesday night. The Olympian went off for 30 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead her team to a 82-74 win over the Connecticut Sun that tightened the Liberty’s grasp on the No. 1 seed.
“We stuck together,” Ionescu said. “Everyone came in and did their job. We knew we had to pick some people up who weren’t playing with us. This crowd got us going the whole night, we want to protect homecourt.”
In the process, Ionescu surpassed Cappie Pondexter to become the Liberty’s leader in 30-point games with 13. That moves her into a tie with Seimone Augustus for 19th place on the WNBA’s all-time 30-point game leaderboard. In addition, this was Ionescu’s sixth career game with at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists, which is second only to Diana Taurasi (eight) in league history.
Here’s a look at the Liberty’s top 30-point scorers. No one else in franchise history besides these four has more than two 30-point games:
|
Sabrina Ionescu |
13 |
|
Cappie Pondexter |
13 |
|
Breanna Stewart |
10 |
|
10 |
Ionescu got off to a hot start, as she made three 3-pointers and had 12 points in the…
