Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu Sets Scoring Milestones Ahead of WNBA Break, Paris Olympics

The WNBA is on a break for the Paris Olympics, where former Oregon Ducks Basketball star Sabrina Ionescu will be playing for Team USA. The break comes as Ionescu and the New York Liberty have been on a tear.

Jul 13, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) brings the ball up court against the Chicago Sky during the first half of a WNBA game at Wintrust Arena. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Finally a break for former Oregon Ducks basketball star Sabrina Ionescu. Sort of.

Ionescu has been on a tear in the WNBA of late. She scored 30 points in the New York Liberty's 82-74 win over the Connecticut Sun Tuesday. That's the 13th time in her career she's reached that scoring mark, setting a new Liberty record. That was also the fifth-straight game she broke the 20 point barrier, something only three other's in Liberty history had done: Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Cappie Pondexter, Tina Charles.

The former Duck also made a three-pointer on the night, six of them actually, becoming just the third player in WNBA history to notch a triple in 50 consecutive games.

The milestones continued as she was a perfect 10-of-10 on free throws, making her the third Liberty player to not miss from the stripe with double-digit attempts in a game.

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) takes a photo with fan Addie Young on Saturday, July 6, 2024, during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. / Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

New York needed the full Ionescu show to top their rival from Connecticut. The Liberty were missing Laney-Hamilton as well as Breanna Stewart. That meant an eight-player rotation, with Ionescu playing 37 of the possible 40 minutes, nearly four minutes over her season average.

Ioenscu added six rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals in the victory, solidifying New York's league-leading record of 21-4 and putting the Liberty up 2.5 games on the second-place Sun going into a break for the league that runs from July 18 through Aug. 14.

The extended break is for the Paris Olympics, where Ionescu will play for Team USA. She and the U.S. Women's National Team will take on the WNBA All-Stars in preparation for Paris Saturday, July 20 at 5:30 p.m. PDT in Phoenix. That game can be seen on ABC.

Team USA will also play an exhibition against Germany on July 23 in London. That game will air on FS1 at noon PDT.

Ionescu and the Americans then begin their latest attempt at remaining perfect in Olympic play over the past seven Games. The last loss for the U.S. came in 1992, which saw the Americans finish with the Bronze. Since then, it has been seven-consecutive Golds.

Team USA's schedule is below.

• July 29: Group Phase vs. Japan
• Aug. 1: Group Phase vs. Belgium
• Aug. 4: Group Phase vs. Germany
• Aug. 7: Quarterfinal
• Aug. 9: Semifinal
• Aug. 11: Gold and Bronze Medal Games

Three other Ducks will be playing in Paris for the women's basketball competition.

Nyara and Satou Sabally are representing Germany in its first-ever Olympic Games. That means Ioenescu and the Sabally sisters will see each other twice over the next few weeks.

Maite Cazorla will be in Paris representing Spain. The Spanish are in a group with Serbia, China, and Puerto Rico.