Sabrina Ionescu Leads New York Liberty To Win Over Las Vegas Aces

A rematch between the top two WNBA teams on Sunday, played in front of a sold-out crowd at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, had a different outcome than the last time they played each other in June.

The New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces 99-61 in an exciting game that Liberty star player Sabrina Ionescu scored 31 points, leading the Aces to its third loss of the season.

During this much anticipated matchup between the top two WNBA teams, the Aces started out strong leading the game 22-19 in the first quarter. At the half, Ionescu helped the Liberty get ahead 49-44. She scored 23 of her 31 points by halftime.

The Liberty, now on a four-game winning streak brought the Aces eight-game winning streak to a halt with only its third loss of the season.

Sunday's game was the first of four games in August between the top two teams. They play again in Vegas on August 17, in New York on August 28, and in the Commissioner's Cup final on August 15 in Vegas.

Liberty's Courtney Vandersloot's six assists moved her into second place all-time on the league's career list by passing Ticha Penicheiro's 2,599 with 2,600. Sue Bird is the all-time leader with 3,234.

The Liberty announced that they will donate $500 for every assist Vandersloot had on Sunday to help raise funds and awareness for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Liberty will also donate $100 for every home assist that she has throughout the rest of the season.

During the postgame press conference, Ionescu talked about what went so well for the team this game.

"We took really good shots. A lot of our shots weren't forced and we were able to create opportunity for one another," she said. "We drove and kicked and found the open man."

She continued, "We took care of the ball. We got stops on the defensive end, and then run in transition and find the hot hand and everyone shot it really confidently for really good looks at the basket."

Ionescu's signature shoe was set to be released in early August but the U.S. release date was pushed back by a couple of weeks. The shoe will be available for purchase on September 1 at 10 a.m. ET on Nike.com.

A description of the shoe on Nike's website reads, "Sabrina Ionescu's game is unique, hard to define and built with an undeniable craft. Her signature shoe helps you unlock your versatility with a snappy forefoot Zoom Air and cloud-like React foam to help keep you energized. We used insights from next-gen athletes around the world to bring grippy, best-in-class traction, reliable midfoot support and stability to the court—which every hooper needs. Built for crafty players like Sabrina, but made for anyone who's ready to put in the work to take their game to the next level."

Ionescu also announced her shoes on Instagram with a video captioned, "Introducing the #Sabrina1. 👟

Nike’s newest signature basketball shoe — dropping Summer 2023."

Many of her followers and fans dropped into the comments to share their excitement for the new shoes.

NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo simply wrote, "🙌." One fan wrote, "These are🔥 definitely buying my daughter a pair," and another added, "GAME-CHANGER 🔥."

Back in March, Ionescu shared some insight into her new venture as a signature athlete with Nike.

Nike Basketball left a comment for Ionescu on her exciting new chapter saying, "Signature SZN 🙌."

Many fans left messages of support and excitement over the new shoes.

"On my list! 💚🏀⭐️ Congratulations!" one fan wrote. Another added, "Looked like an awesome experience @sabrina_i. Great kicks. ❤️"