Six years after they went their separate ways, Satou Sabally and Sabrina Ionescu have joined forces once again. From Eugene to New York, the Oregon Ducks’ most popular duo is back together.
Although they won’t be wearing Ducks uniforms again, they are taking the same goal of achieving what was taken away from them in college.
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Winning a championship.
“I still have unfinished business with Sab,” Sabally said in her first press conference with the team. “I would love to win with her. It’s been such a long time since Oregon, but that is always something we still talk about.”
Sabally signed a two-year deal with the New York Liberty this offseason to pursue a championship with her college teammate. Ionescu, who won a WNBA championship for the Liberty in 2024, also re-signed with the team on Friday.
In 2020, the Ducks dominated the regular season with a 31-2 record, led by Ionescu and Sabally. They appeared poised to finally get over the hump and bring a national championship back to Eugene. That is, until the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the NCAA Tournament was canceled.
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Since then, Ionescu and Sabally, both feeling robbed of a title, have been linked in their careers. After the postseason was canceled, both Oregon stars entered the WNBA Draft. Ionescu went first overall to New York, while Sabally went one pick later to the Dallas Wings.
Ionescu has been to the WNBA Finals twice with the Liberty, once as a winner and once as a loser. She also partnered with former Oregon star Nyara Sabally, Satou’s younger sister, to win in New York. Last season, it was the older Sabally sister who got the best of Ionescu. Sabally led the Phoenix Mercury past the Liberty in the first round of the playoffs and eventually to the WNBA Finals, where the Mercury fell to the Las Vegas Aces.
So close, but not enough for Sabally. Now, it’s the only thing she can think about.
“What I really wanted to do is win a championship,” Sabally said. “I think that it’s missing on my resume. I know I’m a great player, but I do want that ring and I want to do it alongside people that I trust and alongside people that I want to really compete with in a place that embraces sports culture in a different way.”
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There’s nobody Sabally trusts on the floor more than her old running mate, Ionescu. In her final season at Oregon, Sabally averaged 16.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and one steal per game as the second scoring option for the Ducks. Ionescu averaged 17.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 9.1 assists (led the nation) and 1.5 steals per game, en route to several awards, including the Wooden Award and AP Player of the Year.
“Unfinished business” is how Sabally put it, and there isn’t a better place to finally write the correct conclusion to her story with Ionescu than in New York, which has made the WNBA Finals in two of the last three seasons and has formed a superteam with Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Ionescu.
Despite having possibly the biggest target on their back in the WNBA, nothing is standing in the way of the former Oregon stars now.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Satou Sabally details decision to join Sabrina Ionescu and Liberty
