UNCASVILLE, Conn. \u2014 Sabrina Ionescu had enough.<\/p>\n
If the Liberty were going to end their four-game losing streak \u2014 the team\u2019s longest since 2022 \u2014 she knew it was on her to do something.<\/p>\n
So from the start of Sunday\u2019s game at Connecticut, Ionescu went nuclear.<\/p>\n
She scored 16 of her 36 points in the first quarter to help lift the Liberty to a 87-78 win and out of this godforsaken funk.<\/p>\n
The M-V-P chants \u2014 perhaps led by the more than 200 Liberty season-ticket holders whom the team bussed up for the game \u2014 started to break out for Ionescu as she stepped to the free throw line in the second half.<\/p>\n
Sabrina Ionescu reacts during the Liberty\u2019s win against the Sun on Aug. 3. Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Ionescu shot 14-for-22 from the field and finished just one point shy of matching her career high. <\/p>\n
She also registered her first double-double of the season, adding 11 rebounds.<\/p>\n
She also registered her 1,000th career assist in the second quarter \u2014 one of her four in the game \u2014 when she fed a cutting Rebekah Gardner for a layup.<\/p>\n
Ionescu is the third fastest WNBA player to reach the career milestone, doing so in 170 games. <\/p>\n
Emma Meesseman attempts a shot during the Liberty\u2019s win against the Sun on Aug. 3. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Sabrina Ionescu attempts a shot during the Liberty\u2019s Aug. 3 win. Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Only Ticha Penicheiro (134 games) and Teresa Weatherspoon (159) have eclipsed 1,000 assists quicker.<\/p>\n
Ionescu had some help, of course.<\/p>\n