Sabrina Ionescu made a 3-pointer from the wing with less than a second remaining to give the New York Liberty a 90–87 win over the Indiana Fever on Friday night in the WNBA season opener.
Ionescu, the former Oregon star who played in only three games last year as a cheater, before spraining his ankle, got the ball near the wing and hit a deep shot and gave Liberty the lead with 0.4 seconds left. She finished with 25 points, 11 assists and six rebounds in her Barclays Center debut.
He scored the final eight points for New York, trailing 86–82 with 39.7 seconds left. In 2020 the No. 1 draft pick hit a 3-pointer from the wing and then made two free throws with 21.8 seconds remaining to tie it at 87.
After a timeout, Indiana worked under the clock before Kelsey Mitchell was called for a travel violation, with 5.8 seconds watching the winner of Ionescu on the field with his family.
Bettinijah Layne scored 30 points to lead New York and rookie Michaela Oyenwere added 18.
The Liberty was still missing Natasha Howard, whom she acquired from Seattle in a trade in the off season. She is ending her overseas season in Italy. New York was also missing Kiah Stokes and Rebecca Allen, who are also playing overseas.
Liberty had Laney, whom he signed as a free agent in the off season. Last year, the league’s best player made an appearance in the first quarter scoring 11 points and had 20 points in the half when the game was tied at 47.
New York took a four-lead lead in the fourth quarter, but Indiana scored 11–2 in the middle of the final quarter to take an 86–82 lead.
Mitchell finished with 23 points and Teyra McCowan added 22 points and 16 rebounds for Indiana.
The game marked the 25th season of the WNBA and was Liberty’s second regular season game at its new home, Barclays Center. He played a game against Seattle in the 2019 regular season in the arena.
“Everyone has a little nervousness tonight. It’s an exciting time, this is the 25th year. We’ve invested a lot in this process and in our team and what we’re trying to achieve,” Fever. K coach Marianne Stanley said before the game. “Once the ball is hoisted to the starting tip, people will be able to go in.”
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