| GAME LEADERS | NEW YORK | CONNECTICUT |
| POINTS | Ionescu (21) | Bonner (22) |
| REBOUNDS | Stewart (14) | Bonner, Thomas (9) |
| ASSISTS | Fiebich, Ionescu (5) | Thomas (8) |
TEAM NOTABLES
On Saturday, the New York Liberty (18-4) defeated (the Connecticut Sun (17-5), 71-68.
With the victory, New York reclaims sole possession of first place in the WNBA.
At 18-4, the 2024 Liberty are off to the team’s best start through 22 games in franchise history.
All seven players that recorded minutes in Wednesday’s win finished with multiple assists, marking the first time in WNBA history that a team had every player that entered the game record multiple assists (minimum seven players), according to Elias Sports Bureau.
New York’s bench outscored the Sun’s reserves by a margin of 8-7, moving the Liberty to 3-0 when outscoring their opponent in bench points.
The Liberty outpaced the Sun 40-26 on points in the paint, which ties the largest positive paint scoring differential by a Connecticut opponent (+14) so far in 2024.
The duo of Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart combined to outscore Connecticut in the first quarter, 20-19.
With her 230th career win as a coach, Sandy Brondello tied Michael Cooper for the sixth-most coaching wins in WNBA history.
Up Next: The New York Liberty will face the Chicago Sky tomorrow, July 11, at 7:00 p.m. ET at Barclays Center.
KEY RUNS
Q1: New York went on a 12-2 run from the 1:50 mark of the first to the 5:38 mark of the second quarter.
Q2: Connecticut went on a 17-4 run from the 4:39 mark of the second to the 0:03 mark of the second quarter.
Q3: New York went on a 9-0 run from the 9:26 mark of the third to the 7:27 mark of the third quarter.
PLAYER NOTABLES
Sabrina Ionescu led the Liberty offense with 21 points, five assists, and five rebounds, along with one steal and a block on Tyasha Harris’s potential game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer. Ionescu added one three-pointer to extend her streak of regular-season games with at least one made three-pointer to 47, which is the third-longest such streak in WNBA history. With her three-pointer at 4:42 of the third quarter, Ionescu also passed Becky Hammon for the second-most three-pointers in Liberty franchise history, with 331.
Sabrina also recorded double-digit points in the first quarter for the sixth time in 2024 to pass A’ja Wilson for sole possession of the most double-digit first quarter scoring performances in the league this season. Ionescu has scored at least 10 points in all 22 games so far in 2024, which is the second-longest streak of double-digit scoring to start a season in Liberty franchise history, behind Breanna Stewart’s 39 consecutive games in 2023. The reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Month for June recorded at least 20 points, five rebounds, and five assists for the 20th time in her career to pass Sheryl Swoopes for the 10th-most such games in WNBA history.
Breanna Stewart recorded a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds to go along with two assists and a steal. Stewart also added three blocks to pass Jessica Breland for the 18th-most blocks in WNBA history. The reigning MVP finished the first quarter with 10 points on a perfect 100% (4/4) shooting from the field. This was the ninth instance of a player scoring at least 10 points on 100% shooting from the field in a first quarter this season, and three of those nine performances came from Liberty players, which is the most in the league. Stewart has recorded 49 rebounds over her last four games, which is tied for the second-highest rebounding total in a four-game span of her career.
Jonquel Jones finished with eight points and 11 rebounds and added three assists, one block and one steal. Jones (258 games) became the second-fastest player in WNBA history to reach 1,500 defensive rebounds, 450 assists, 300 blocks, and 250 three-pointers, and Breanna Stewart (205 games) is the only other player to reach those marks in fewer than 300 games. Jones has recorded multiple assists in eight consecutive games, which is the longest single-season streak of her Liberty tenure and the third-longest of her career.
Leonie Fiebich tied her career-high for assists in a single game with five against Connecticut. Fiebich finished with five points, five assists, two rebounds, and a steal. The rookie also set a new career-high for assists in a single half with four in the first half.