Sabrina Ionescu’s return to her hometown for a matchup against the Golden State Valkyries did not translate into a victory for the New York Liberty, as the team fell 76-67 on Sunday night. Despite the presence of family and friends and a week that included having her high school gymnasium named in her honor, Ionescu struggled offensively.
Ionescu went scoreless in the first half, missing all five of her field goal attempts. This marked her fourth scoreless half of the season in eight games played. She managed a brief offensive spurt in the third quarter, hitting a three-pointer and a layup, but the Liberty ultimately could not overcome the deficit.
She was substituted out of the game with 3:39 remaining, finishing with nine points on 10 shots, along with three rebounds and two assists. Ionescu acknowledged the challenges of rejoining the team mid-season after missing time due to injury. "Obviously, it’s been a learning experience for me. I’ve never missed this much time, especially early on in the year, when you’re kind of trying to find your identity as a team and build chemistry with players you haven’t played with and obviously a new coach and new system, so all that is new," she stated.
Ionescu initially missed the start of the season with a left foot injury, played one game, and was then sidelined with back soreness. Since returning to the lineup on June 14, she has averaged 9.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game, shooting 36.5 percent from the field and 29 percent from three-point range over her last seven games. She noted the difficulty of finding her rhythm while the rest of the league is already established in its season flow. "It takes a little bit to just kind of get back out there, get in rhythm, figure out kind of where I fit in," Ionescu said. "But it’s early for me in terms of how many games that I played, and I understand there’s obviously more games to be played ahead, and that’s kind of up to me how I can approach it mentally, knowing that I’m healthy now and back playing."