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Sabrina Ionescu Admits Lapse That Led to Liberty Downfall Against Sky

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Rex Villas | Last updated Aug 22, 2025 6:10 AM ET

Riding on the wave of momentum generated from their Tuesday night win over the Minnesota Lynx, Sabrina Ionescu and the New York Liberty failed to follow that up with another victory, as they fell prey to Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky, 91-85, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday evening.

Granted that the Liberty missed the services of Breanna Stewart again, the loss to the Sky was a surprising one, especially when considering the fact that Chicago was already eliminated from contention for a spot in the WNBA playoffs before the game even started.

The Sky did a great job of keeping in step with the reigning WNBA champions from the get-go. New York was just ahead by a point by the end of the first quarter and by just two points at the half. If not for Liberty guard Natasha Cloud draining a 3-pointer at the buzzer, New York would have come out of halftime trailing the Sky by a point.

Sabrina Ionescu laments Liberty's underwhelming first half against the Sky

For Ionescu, Liberty's loss to Chicago was in large part because of a seeming lack of urgency to squash the Sky's confidence in the first half. By allowing Chicago to gain steam, New York struggled to contain the visiting team that started the second half with full belief that it could take down the champs.

"When you give a team hope, that's all they need," said Ionescu, per Lucas Kaplan of NetsDaily. "And I'd say in the first half we made things way too easy for them, and that gave them hope going into halftime, knowing that they could hang with us. And I mean, Chicago is a good team. They just haven't put it together."

Ionescu finished the game with 16 points but was a salty 6-for-15 from the field. Jonquel Jones paced the Liberty with 25 points.

The Sky, on the other hand, fed off the incredible production of the combo of Kamilla Cardoso and Reese. Cardoso had a huge double-double of 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Reese put up 21 points and 10 boards for Chicago, which snapped a five-game losing skid.

Despite the recent win against the league-leading Lynx, the Liberty have been on shaky ground of late. The Liberty dropped to fourth place in the 2025 WNBA standings with a 22-14 record and have now lost four of their last six outings and five of their previous 10 outings.

It is not about to get easier for New York, as it is scheduled to take on the 23-13 Atlanta Dream this coming Saturday at Gateway Center in College Park, Georgia.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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