The New York Liberty are still waiting for Sabrina Ionescu to make her 2026 season debut. But Sabou Sabally took the court for the first time with her new team in Thursday’s 87-70 loss to the Golden State Valkyries at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
In her first game action since October of the 2025 WNBA playoffs, Sabally scored five points with four rebounds and two assists in 16 minutes of play. (She missed all of Unrivaled’s 2026 campaign while recovering from a concussion sustained during Game 3 of the WNBA Finals against the Las Vegas Aces.)
Gabby Williams led the Valkyries with 16 points, shooting 4-for-6 from 3-point range. Veronica Burton and Kaila Charles each followed with 13. Burton added seven assists, while Charles tallied four rebounds and seven assists, hitting 3-of-6 3-pointers.
Perhaps deflated by the news that Ionescu wouldn’t play, the Liberty dragged through a first quarter in which they were outscored 25-15. New York got almost all of its scoring in those opening 10 minutes from Pauline Astier (seven points) and Breanna Stewart (four).
Both Ionescu and Sabally were game-time decisions. Ionescu is still recovering from a left foot injury sustained during the preseason, while Sabally has been dealing with a cyst and regaining her conditioning.
Last season in her lone campaign with the Phoenix Mercury, Sabally averaged 16.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 39 games, while shooting 32% on 3-pointers. She was named to her third WNBA All-Star team, along with new Liberty teammates Ionescu and Breanna Stewart.
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