Azzi Fudd, Wings spoil Sabrina Ionescu’s season debut, beat Liberty behind third-quarter surge
· Yahoo Sports
NEW YORK — The New York Liberty’s Core 4 is back, but they didn’t faze the No. 1 overall pick.
Sabrina Ionescu’s 2026 regular season debut didn’t fix a third-quarter funk — a repeated theme during the Liberty’s early season.
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This time, the Liberty lost sight of Dallas Wings rookie Azzi Fudd, who erupted for five 3-pointers in the third period, in Sunday’s 91-76 New York loss at Barclays Center.
“I thought we got hurt in transition,” head coach Chris DeMarco said. “We know going to the game this is going to be one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the W. Just locating shooters. Arike [Ogunbowale] got hot in the first half. Fudd found her rhythm.”
Indeed, Ogunbowale did start hot — shooting 6 of 10 (not including her end-of-half heave at the buzzer) in the first two periods.
Fudd followed suit with a 17-point barrage in the third. Her points in the period matched the Liberty’s in those 10 minutes, while the Wings scored 28 total.
Her six treys broke the franchise record for most 3-pointers in a game. And her 24-point performance is career-high for the UConn alum.
The Barclays Center performance came months after Fudd scored 27 when her No. 1 ranked Huskies defeated Iowa on Dec. 20 inside the same venue.
“I mean this does — not like it feels like a home game, but just having the experience of playing here before was really nice, because this was a lot of fun,” said Fudd, who recorded three steals and two blocks Sunday. “The atmosphere is incredible from when I was here with UConn, even more so tonight.”
Her teammate and ex-UConn guard Paige Bueckers also received cheers like a home player while logging 24 points, six rebounds and two assists.
They outshined Ionescu’s return and sent a message to the Liberty: DeMarco’s highly talked about offense in New York is good, but Wings first-time head coach Jose Fernandez is cooking something just as special in Dallas.
And he may be capable of doing it without the firepower DeMarco deployed Sunday.
Ionescu — who finished with 11 points, five rebounds and seven assists — and her team looked ready to blow the game open from the start.
The ex-Oregon Ducks portion of the quartet — Satou Sabally and Ionescu — didn’t miss, scoring nine points while the team combined for 11 in under two minutes. It gave them a nine-point advantage, but Dallas managed to trail by just three after the first.
The second quarter remained nearly even — with Dallas scoring 26 to the Liberty’s 24 — before Fudd’s surge after halftime.
By then, it was evident that Sunday was all about Fudd on a day Ionescu had to wait six games for.
Sunday was her first regular season action after missing time due to a left foot injury suffered in a May 3 preseason loss in Connecticut.
“I feel good,” Ionescu said postgame.
Her return gave DeMarco the first opportunity to deploy four All-Star-caliber players in the starting lineup: Ionescu, Sabally, Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart, plus Marine Johannes.
Pauline Astier, who started the previous five games, played off the bench in Ionescu’s return. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who started four games this season, missed Sunday’s loss due to personal reasons.
It didn’t seem to matter who was on the floor, though, as the Wings converted 15 of 35 (43%) shots from downtown.
Fudd went 6 of 12 from deep, and Ogunbowale drained five more.
Ionescu and her squad shot a much quieter 8 of 26 from beyond the arc.
Charge Sunday’s ineffective Liberty offense to the team being unable to force stops and turn those opportunities to quality shot attempts on the other end.
“I think when you’re able to get stops and run in transition, you get easy looks,” Ionescu said. “That second half of the game slowed down a lot with us having to take the ball out of the net. [Dallas was] physical, they were able to dictate a little bit more. I felt like the game slowed down for us offensively, and obviously we play really well when we play fast. So, if anything, I think it’s a great learning experience for us, you know, to not let defenses really dictate what we’re trying to do on the offensive end.”
The lone bright spot might’ve been Ionescu’s mobility in 31 minutes of action in her first WNBA game of 2026.
The Liberty now hope to get back in the win column on the second end of a back-to-back Monday against the Portland Fire at home.
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