Sabrina Ionescu discovered herself in a bushy state of affairs.
About halfway via the third quarter of her Liberty’s 100-52 win over the Connecticut Solar, Ionescu was referred to as for a capturing foul on a Marina Mabrey 3-point try.
An incredulous Ionescu instantly protested the decision, displaying the referee that her ponytail had been knocked sideways by Mabrey’s capturing movement.
Liberty coach Sandy Brondello challenged the decision, and a video evaluation revealed Mabrey was the one who made contact with Ionescu’s head.
The decision was overturned, eliciting an animated celebration from Ionescu.
Ionescu ran across the Barclays Heart courtroom and repeatedly pumped her arms within the air. She then forcefully high-fived the Liberty’s bench earlier than unleashing one closing fist pump in a second of pure hype.
“I knew I didn’t foul her,” Ionescu stated afterward. “Very thankful for my coaches and entrusting me with the fact that I asked for a challenge, because I know I didn’t. My ponytail was sideways. She hit me.”
Ionescu was formally credited with a block. The Liberty led 74-28 on the time of the problem.
“We were up by a lot, so it was a great opportunity for us to challenge and make sure that I can continue to earn Sandy’s trust to be able to continue to challenge,” Ionescu stated.
Brondello interjected: “She has my trust.”
Ionescu completed with 18 factors on 6-of-9 capturing, together with 4-of-3 on 3-pointers, in 19 minutes, contributing to the biggest margin of victory in Liberty historical past and the second largest in WNBA historical past.
With the win, the defending WNBA champion Liberty improved to 7-0 — tied for the most effective begin in franchise historical past.
“We knew there were 17,000 fans there tonight,” Ionescu stated. “My message before the game was, ‘This is a big game.’ There could be new fans, new kids that come and want to watch us for this first time. They don’t know we’ve had four [games] in six days. They don’t care. They want to go out and watch Liberty basketball.”
Initially Printed: June 2, 2025 at 10:44 AM EDT
