“You can’t guard me!”

Sun guard Tiffany Hayes made this emphatic statement to Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu during Tuesday’s Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals. But Ionescu got the last laugh, leading New York to an 84-77 win and evening the series with Connecticut.

Hayes did score a game-high 30 points at New York’s Barclays Center. In the fourth quarter, as she made another move toward the basket, she was fouled by Ionescu in the paint, which triggered her trash talk.

“Yeah, they can’t guard her,” Sun forward Alyssa Thomas said after the game. “They can’t guard her, whether they tried to trap her, whether they tried to guard her one-on-one — hence why they went to a zone. They have no answer for her.”

For Ionescu, though, the victory speaks for itself. She led the Liberty with 21 points, and every New York starter finished in double digits.

“I’m not really focused on what other people say and how they try and rattle us,” she said. “For me, it’s all about winning. But it’s fun when you go against competitors that are into the game and want to talk. At the end of the day, it’s all about winning.”

The series continues with Game 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena.

Sabrina Ionescu finds motivation wherever she can get it.

In the second half of the New York Liberty’s game Friday against the Washington Mystics, for instance, Ionescu took issue with what she believed was a non-call by the referees. Ionescu believed the Mystics should have been called for a shooting foul at one point of the opening game of the team’s first-round playoff series.

The call never came, however, and Ionescu drained back-to-back 3-pointers, adding to what turned into a game-high 29-point performance in New York’s 90-75 win over the Mystics.

“I don’t want to get fined, but let me say,” Ionescu told reporters after the game. “Some of those 3s were for the refs, with all due respect.”

Ionescu, a two-time WNBA All-Star, was second on the Liberty during the regular season with 17 points per game, shooting 42.3 percent from the floor and 44.8 from long-range. She set a single-season league record with 128 made 3-pointers.

A former mentee of the late Kobe Bryant, Ionescu is never afraid to wear her art on her heart on her sleeve.

That was clear against the Mystics on Friday, when she made seven 3-pointers – a franchise playoff record. After swishing a long ball with just under seven minutes remaining to give the Liberty a 12-point lead, she waved her arms above her head, egging on a bombastic Barclays Center crowd.

The Liberty’s success has Ionescu convinced they are the top team in New York City, women’s or men’s.

“We’re going to let our work do the talking,” Ionescu said. “We’ll be able to shut up those people on Twitter that have anything to say [about] what’s going on with New York sports.

“We’ve been playing the best basketball that’s been played in New York City for a very long time. Whether people recognize it or not, they will in the next few weeks. I’m excited to see what they say then.”

Sabrina Ionescu is joining an elite club, and not just because of her stats on the basketball court.

Her Nike signature shoe, dubbed the Sabrina 1, will be released Friday. The New York Liberty guard becomes just the 12th WNBA player to have a shoe bearing her name, and she is just the second woman athlete to receive a signature shoe from Nike in more than a decade. She joins Elena Delle Donne, who released her own shoe last year.

The Sabrina 1s were announced in February, and seven months later they are about to hit store shelves. It’s a huge moment for the girl that grew up playing in Nike Dunks.

“Now, to be able to see my name on shoeboxes and around the world means a lot,” she told CBS Mornings.

On Wednesday, she unveiled the two colorways for her shoe, one titled the Sabrina 1 “Spark” and the other the Sabrina 1 “Ionic.” Both feature a stylized “S” on the tongue and a custom Nike swoop on the inside heel of the shoe.

“It’s been years in the making,” she said, noting that the process has taken three years. “The design has been really fun, partnering with Nike. The swoosh being upwards on the inside is just no glass ceilings, breaking barriers. There are so many hidden designs in the shoe that I’m excited to be able to tell my story to the world.”

Additionally, this will be the first unisex signature shoe collection designed by Nike. The idea to make a unisex shoe was her first request of Nike in the design process, Ionescu said.

“I wanted to create a unisex shoe, so the ability for young girls, boys, men and women to be able to wear it,” she said. “Growing up, I played basketball and there were so many young boys and men that were like, ‘You shouldn’t be playing with us.’

“And so, when I was in the process of designing this shoe I wanted anyone anywhere to be able to put this shoe on and accomplish whatever it is that they wanted to.”

She also joins non-basketball players such as Serena Williams, Megan Rapinoe and Naomi Osaka to have namesake collections with Nike.

“They’re legends,” Ionescu said. “In their respective sports but also just as people and what they mean to the sports world. I’m super excited to represent Nike and myself and continue to change the game.”

Sabrina Ionescu made history Monday night in the New York Liberty’s 94-85 win against the Las Vegas Aces.

Her two assists pushed her to 601 in her career, making her the first player in WNBA history to have 600 rebounds and 600 assists through her first four WNBA seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

She also scored 25 points, bringing her to more than 1,500 in her career. She’s the fastest in WNBA history to reach 1,500 points, 600 rebounds and 600 assists, having done so in 102 games. Shannon Johnson did it in 141 games, while Diana Taurasi did it in 145 games.

And if you ask Ionescu, the Liberty are just getting started.

“We’re just scratching the surface to our potential,” she said after the win Monday.

Breanna Stewart, a front-runner for the 2023 WNBA MVP award in her first season in New York, agreed with that sentiment.

“The trust, it takes time to build,” she said. “Sab and I understand we attract so much attention and gravity. We understand if we are in a two-person game, how are they gonna guard it? They have to give something up.”

Sabrina Ionescu had her Nike signature Sabrina 1s stolen from the Las Vegas Aces’ arena, she posted Thursday on social media.

“Never thought I would get my shoes stolen from an opposing arena… Please just bring me my insoles back,” the New York Liberty guard wrote on Twitter. “RIP to my Sabrina 1s.”

Ionescu, 25, posted the message alongside two photos of her sneakers, one showing them in Oregon Ducks-inspired green and the other in dark gray. She wore the green shoes in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game against the Aces at Michelob Ultra Arena on Aug. 15, which the Liberty won 82-63.

Both teams took Wednesday off before returning to action Thursday in a regular-season rematch of the Commissioner’s Cup final. When Ionescu showed up to the arena Thursday morning for a shootaround, her shoes were gone.

Arena security staff are working with the Las Vegas police department to investigate the incident, ESPN reported.

Ahead of Thursday’s game, an 88-75 win for the Aces, Liberty coach Sandy Brondello pointed to the insoles of Ionescu’s sneakers as the biggest loss. The insoles were tailored to Ionescu’s feet.

“As an athlete, it’s not about the shoes, per se, it’s about the insoles,” Brondello said. “That’s the thing, going into a game not wearing your insoles. But I’m sure it will be taken care of. Our focus now is just on the game.

“She’s got some [other] shoes here. They travel with enough shoes. It was just about the insoles. Hopefully, they can be found. Keep the shoes, but give the insoles back. She can get plenty of shoes. But we’re on the road, so it’s not like we can just get some insoles.”

Even without her usual insoles, Ionescu finished with 22 points in Thursday’s loss, shooting 6-for-12 from 3-point range. In Tuesday’s win against the Aces, she scored 12 points and added eight rebounds, coming up clutch with three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

The 2023 series between the teams stands at 2-2, though the Commissioner’s Cup game doesn’t count toward the regular-season standings. They’ll face off for the final time in the regular season on Aug. 28 in New York.

While the Sabrina 1s are not yet available to the public, they will be released for sale on Sept. 1, at a going price of $130.

The first half of Sabrina Ionescu’s season was marked with inconsistency. She had multiple single-digit scoring efforts — five points on June 2, and then four on June 4 in two games against Chicago — followed by a 37-point eruption against Atlanta just days later.

Through the early part of the 2023 season, that seemed to be the formula: remarkable point production one day, and a disappearing act another. Then came two things that have changed the trajectory of the New York Liberty guard’s season: an NBA2K cover and a 3-point contest.

Since a record-breaking performance in the 3-point competition during WNBA All-Star weekend, Ionescu has become unstoppable and, more importantly, consistent. And, as the Las Vegas Aces learned again in an 82-63 loss in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game on Tuesday night, the rest of the league is paying for it.

“I’m just playing basketball,” Ionescu told reporters on Aug. 6. “I’m just continuing to trust my shot and my shooting ability.”

In July, Ionescu was announced as the cover athlete for the 2024 WNBA edition of NBA 2K24. Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird graced the cover last year, and Candace Parker was featured on the video game in 2021.

For Ionescu, it was a rewarding moment.

“It’s a pretty humbling experience,” Ionescu told The Athletic in July. “Just knowing that I stand for a lot more than just representing my team and the league, but also just continuing to inspire the youth, and knowing that a lot of kids that are gonna play this game will one day dream to be on the cover as well. That’s really what’s important to me and what I want my legacy to be.”

The response from fans and fellow WNBA players wasn’t as positive. Players like Kelsey Plum and Rhyne Howard tweeted that A’ja Wilson deserved to be on the cover. Wilson’s resume includes two WNBA MVP awards, five All-Star appearances, a Defensive Player of the Year award and a WNBA Championship.

Ionescu didn’t respond directly to the criticism, but her play on the court has made a statement.

Since the All-Star break, the former No. 1 draft pick has made 50 3-pointers (3.8 makes per contest), continuing a hot shooting streak that started during her historic performance in the 3-point contest. The 25-year-old ran away with that competition, scoring 37 points — the most for a WNBA or NBA player in a 3-point contest. Then, she knocked down five 3-pointers in the All-Star Game.

Ionescu was already shooting the ball well going into the break — she had made 54 3s over the first 16 games — but now, the fourth-year guard is doing it with consistency and stepping up in big moments.

Take her team’s three games against first-place Las Vegas as examples. In their first meeting in June, Ionescu scored just seven points as the Aces recorded a lopsided victory, 98-81. In their second game after the All-Star break, she led the Liberty with 31 points on 6-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc. That time it was New York who came away with a blowout win, 99-61.

“I come out every game with the same mentality and that is to do my job and to do it to the best of my ability,” Ionescu said afterward. “Tonight I understood that we were going up against the best team in the league. There is no room for error, no room for not being locked in and wanting to win every single possession.”

The third meeting was quieter for Ionescu, as she finished with 12 points in last night’s Commissioner’s Cup championship victory, but her points came just when New York needed them most. She connected on three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Liberty seal the win. Las Vegas was down just eight points heading into the final frame, but that New York advantage ballooned to 19 with help from Ionescu’s 3s, including two on back-to-back possessions to put the game out of reach for the Aces.

That’s a good sign for the Liberty, who now lead the season series with Las Vegas 2-1. If they want to bring New York its first WNBA Championship this season, Ionescu will need to continue stepping up in big moments.

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Sabrina Ionescu won the 3-point shooting contest at WNBA All-Star weekend in scintillating fashion Friday, breaking the all-time record for most points scored in the contest in WNBA and NBA history.

The New York Liberty guard hit all but two of her shots in the final round, scoring 37 out of a possible 40 points to set the single-round record. That number surpasses the NBA record of 31, previously held by Steph Curry (2021) and Tyrese Haliburton (2023). It also breaks Allie Quigley’s WNBA record of 30 set in 2022.

While Ionescu missed her first shot, she went on to hit 20 in a row and 23 out of 25 for the round.

“UNBELIEVABLE!!! This record won’t ever be broken,” Quigley wrote on Twitter.

Curry also celebrated the record-breaking performance, noting that Ionescu’s shooting display was “RIDICULOUS!” Ionescu later challenged him to a shootout.

After her victory, Ionescu said that she’d been practicing with the help of Liberty teammate and Quigley’s wife Courtney Vandersloot, who gave her some tips. But it was her confidence heading into the final round that set her apart.

“Yeah, I knew they were going in,” Ionescu said of the performance. “There’s adrenaline. It was the final round. I had just lost in the Skills [Challenge] and I wasn’t going to lose again.”

The fourth-year guard is shooting 44.6% from 3-point range this season, a career best. Her 54 made 3-pointers rank second in the league.

Aliyah Boston hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the Indiana Fever to overtime Wednesday afternoon, but Sabrina Ionescu had the last laugh in the New York Liberty’s 95-87 win.

Boston is not known for her 3-point shooting. The Fever rookie shot just 24.2% from beyond the arc in her four years at South Carolina, and 10.5% in her senior season with the Gamecocks. She has attempted just two 3-pointers through 19 games to start her WNBA career.

Still, she picked a great time to sink her first WNBA 3-pointer. As the final seconds ticked off the clock in the fourth quarter, she scored a contested shot as time expired to push the game to overtime with the score tied at 80.

LeBron James applauded Boston’s shot and the Fever’s comeback on Twitter.

Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello also complimented Boston’s play. The 6-5 forward finished with 23 points and nine rebounds.

“Her game is suited to the pros,” Brondello said. “We tried to throw some traps at her, but she was triple-teamed in college. She’s just very skilled. She’s got good touch around the basket. She rebounds extremely well. She really works for her positioning. She’s a handful, and she’s only going to get better and better.”

Ionescu, though, propelled her team to victory, contributing 34 points, six rebounds and five assists. The fourth-year guard scored two of her seven 3-pointers in overtime to help seal the win.

“She’s a clutch player,” Liberty forward Jonquel Jones said. “When it gets tough, she’s hitting big shots. So I think we all look for her, especially late in the game… She shoots with the same fluidity and the same poise as she shoots in the first quarter, so (she is) definitely our go-to person late.”

Sabrina Ionescu will be featured on the cover of this year’s WNBA edition of NBA 2K24. But Las Vegas Aces star Kelsey Plum thinks her teammate A’ja Wilson should have been the “easy” choice.

After Ionescu’s cover was revealed Friday, some WNBA fans pointed out alternative options who are just as deserving of the honor, if not more so — among them Wilson, the 2022 WNBA MVP who has picked up right where she left off last season.

Wilson picked up the ESPYs award for Best WNBA Player on Sunday. After the announcement, Plum took to Twitter, calling Wilson’s win an “easy decision” before adding “and so was the 2k cover…”

Kobe Bryant will appear on the cover for the standard NBA 2K edition and a special “Black Mamba” edition. Ionescu told Sports Illustrated it’s an honor to be named alongside Bryant.

“I can only hope to continue to carry on his legacy,” she said.

The New York Liberty guard is averaging 15.2 points and 5.1 assists per game. Wilson, meanwhile, was recently named an All-Star Game captain and is averaging 19.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and a tied-for-the-league-lead 2.3 assists per game, alongside 1.3 steals.

Sabrina Ionescu will be featured on the cover of this year’s WNBA edition of NBA 2K24, it was announced Friday.

Ionescu’s selection marks the third time a WNBA player will be featured on the cover of a NBA 2K game. Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird graced the cover of last year’s game, and Candace Parker became the first woman to appear on the video game cover for the WNBA’s 25th Anniversary Edition in 2021.

NBA2K first introduced the WNBA into the game in 2020.

In a conversation with The Athletic, Ionescu said she played NBA 2K growing up and “never thought it would be possible” to see herself on the cover of the game. She called the honor “a full-circle experience.”

“It’s a pretty humbling experience,” Ionescu said. “Just knowing that I stand for a lot more than just representing my team and the league, but also just continuing to inspire the youth, and knowing that a lot of kids that are gonna play this game will one day dream to be on the cover as well. That’s really what’s important to me and what I want my legacy to be.”

Ionescu is off to a strong start to the WNBA season, averaging 14.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game for the second-place New York Liberty. Her season average of 1.1 steals per game is tied for second in the WNBA.

The 25-year-old was named to the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game as a reserve after finishing sixth in fan and media voting but 19th among players. The game’s reserves were voted on by WNBA head coaches.

Ionescu’s place on the cover generated mixed reactions among fans, many of whom felt that reigning WNBA MVP and champion A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces was more deserving.