Sabrina Ionescu headlines Liberty’s injury report for season opener originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
On Friday night, the WNBA will begin its 30th season with a three-game slate. One of the two 7:30 tip-offs will feature the New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun.
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The Liberty will go into Friday night off of a 79-67 preseason win against the Sun earlier in the month. Their victory would come as a result of the scoring efforts of Jonquel Jones and Anneli Maley, among others, as the two would combine for 28 of the Liberty’s 79 points.
But the bigger talking point leaving the match wouldn’t be New York pulling out the win, but rather the health of their star guard, Sabrina Ionescu, who was limited to only 16 minutes of game time after suffering an ankle injury during the match.
While an MRI taken after Ionescu walked off the court revealed that there was no significant damage, the former Oregon Duck would miss a minimum of two weeks, according to The Athletic’s Annie Costabile. Given this timetable, it’s no surprise to see that Ionescu has been listed as out for Friday night’s affair, as reported by the New York Post’s Madeline Kenney.
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The absence of the sharpshooting guard will leave the Liberty down a vital part of their offensive engine, as Ionescu averaged 18.2 points per game last season, along with 5.7 rebounds.
Who else is out for New York?
It isn’t just the 28-year-old who will be out against Connecticut, as Satou Sabally will miss the match due to a cyst. This will prevent the New York native from making her debut with the Liberty after she put pen to paper on a two-year, $1.6 million contract in the offseason, bringing an end to her lone season with the Phoenix Mercury.
Elsewhere on the Liberty’s injury report sit Raquel Carrera and Leonie Fiebich, both of whom are out due to overseas commitments.
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The Liberty and Sun will kick off their respective seasons on Friday night, with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m. EST.
