We lastly bought the Liberty and Mercury going at one another fairly near full energy.
And firstly, it regarded prefer it was going to be a terrific one.
Each groups had all of its starpower and key contributors — aside from New York’s Nyara Sabally — as a see-saw battle went into the fourth quarter undecided.
However Sabrina Ionescu and the Liberty shined the brightest in a 89-76 win over the Mercury.
Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper had their approach early at Barclays Middle, with Copper changing on contested shot makes an attempt and Thomas taking part in bully ball.
Ionescu couldn’t commerce buckets with them, scoring simply three factors within the first quarter because the Mercury star duo totaled 17.
However there are 4 quarters in basketball. Ionescu knew that.
She regrouped and scored 26 within the closing three quarters to ship the Mercury dwelling with a loss. She completed with one among her finest stat strains of the season: 29 factors, eight assists, 5 rebounds, one block and one steal.
It was her night time.
She signaled that with simply over seven minutes within the fourth after changing an and-1 layup on Monique Akoa Makani. And on the following possession, she put her workforce up 15 with one other layup after weaving by way of Phoenix’s protection.
After a Mercury bucket, Leonie Fiebich basically scored the dagger — a 24-footer that put the Liberty up 16 on the 5:43 mark.
The ending regarded utterly completely different from the beginning when the Libs had been held scoreless for over three minutes to start out the matchup. Jonquel Jones dragged her workforce again, although, with 9 factors within the interval to maintain the deficit inside 4.
Earlier than Ionescu exploded, it was Jones trying just like the No. 1 possibility. She was on double-double watch earlier than halftime and ultimately completed with 20 factors and 11 rebounds.
Phoenix’s Thomas completed with 20 factors, 13 rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Copper contributed 14 factors and three rebounds.
The 2 groups traded blows, however the Liberty ultimately trailed by 12 within the interval. Sandy Brondello’s workforce responded with a 17-7 run within the closing minutes, headlined by 9 Ionescu factors.
Similar to that, the sport was tied at 46 going into halftime.
This a recreation the Liberty ought to’ve been shedding massive. By halftime, the Liberty had been capturing 34.2% to Phoenix’s 48.6%.
The Liberty’s third quarter started sloppily and slowly. The Mercury — once more led by Copper — bought off to an 8-3 begin with the momentum to make it worse.
However that’s the place having the posh of two MVPs and three All-Star gamers come in useful. A fourth All-Star — Emma Meesseman — is awaiting a visa and will likely be in New York shortly.
A fast three-minute 11-3 run spearheaded by six Ionescu buckets flipped the sport as soon as once more. Breanna Stewart’s layup on the 2:19 mark put her workforce up three and compelled Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts to name timeout.
Ionescu’s barrage continued, nonetheless, with a 25-foot trey after Kennedy Burke’s block on Satou Sabally. Then Jones — within the nook in entrance of the Mercury’s bench — banked in a buzzer-beater that was upheld after an official overview to finish the third. It put the Libs up eight getting into the fourth.
The Sabrina Present continued from there — this time with 4 assists because the Mercury’s comeback try fell quick. The street workforce trailed by as many as 18 factors earlier than shortening it to 10. Lastly, the Liberty may exhale after dropping the primary two video games of the season in opposition to the Mercury.
Not sufficient time was left and the Liberty put them in too deep of a gap Friday night time.
And there was primarily one participant accountable for that — No. 20 Sabrina Ionescu.
Initially Printed: July 25, 2025 at 7:32 PM EDT
