New York Liberty set a franchise record for points as guard Sabrina Ionescu reached her second triple-double of the season with a 116-107 win over the Las Vegas Aces on Wednesday.
Ionescu’s 31 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists marked the third triple-double of his career, which combined him the most in his WNBA career with Candace Parker of Chicago Sky.
Ionescu became the first WNBA player to score at least 30 points in a triple-double game, breaking the 29-point mark set by Los Angeles Sparks Center Lisa Leslie in 2004.
It was an aggressive Tour-de-Force for both teams, as the combined point of 223 is the WNBA record of the regulated game.
The teams also set a league mark for 3-pointers combined in one game (31), while 18 traces from New York set a league record with 35 assists from Liberty. And when the team made its debut in Utah in 1997, it was the highest score lost by Aces in franchise history, the year WNBA made its debut.
Liberty is the original franchise until 1997, but he did not leave New York. He was named Ionescu No. 1 in 2020 after setting an NCAA record with 26 triple-doubles in Oregon.
Ionescu became the first WNBA player to record a triple-double without a turnover on Wednesday. The five triple doubles so far this season in the WNBA (two from Ionescu, two from Parker and one from Moria Jefferson of the Minnesota Lynx) are the highest in a single WNBA season.
According to ESPN statistics and information research, Ionescu’s line of scoring at least 30 points in triple-doubles while shooting at least 75% off the field has been matched by only one NBA player in the last 40 years: Denver Nuggets. ‘Nicola humorous.
“I was really trying to take care of the ball, I thought it was really important,” said Ionescu, who was 10-in-13 off the field, with a 7-of-8 at the back of the arch. “As a point guard and primary ball handler, I want to keep working on that part of the game.
“Every time I step on the ground, I try to be the best. I am against me. I’m trying to get better and learning from the situation I’ve been put in. ,
New York coach Sandy Brondello said Liberty took advantage of Las Vegas ’fast offensive style to create their breakout game.
“We knew we would have some chances to put points on the board,” Brondelo said. “It was more about whether we could stop them and slow them down.”
Liberty did better in the second half than before, but in the end it was a New York offense game that didn’t break 100 points earlier this season. New York will face Phoenix Mercury on Thursday and then Ionescu will travel to Chicago for the first time in the WNBA All-Star Game.
“I’m so happy for her because she works so hard,” Brondello said. “He is the hardest minded player I know. We have put a lot on his shoulders but he is ready to take it. ”