No. 1 pick Sabrina Ionescu's debut in the WNBA season tip-off showed potential, but the game belonged to the Seattle Storm's deep roster
- The WNBA season tipped off on Saturday morning with the star-studded Seattle Storm defeating the New York Liberty 87-71.
- The game was the first in the WNBA self-contained bubble, or "wubble," at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- Saturday also marked No.1 draft pick Sabrina Ionescu's professional debut, which she finished with 12 points.
- While Ionescu's first game for the WNBA showed great potential, the Storm's deep roster dominated the floor.
The WNBA season tipped off on Saturday morning in the Florida "Wubble" with the star-studded Seattle Storm dominating the New York Liberty 87-71.
The game began with a powerful statement as both teams left the court during the national anthem and observed a 26-second moment of silence to honor Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was shot and killed by the police in her home in Louisville, Kentucky.
Liberty player Layshia Clarendon announced alongside the Storm's Breanna Stewart before the tip-off that the season was dedicated to Taylor's memory and to the "Say Her Name" campaign, a movement to remember police brutality and violence against Black women.
"We will be a voice for the voiceless," Clarendon said.
The game marked the league's first in the long-awaited season that will be played inside a fan-free "wubble" hosted at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The league announced earlier this month that the season will be dedicated to social justice issues like the Black Lives Matter movement.
The WNBA tweeted early Saturday photos of the courts sporting "Black Lives Matter" designs ahead of the unique season. The decals are similar to those installed by the NBA on their bubble courts in Orlando that were revealed earlier this week.
Saturday also marked No.1 draft pick Sabrina Ionescu's highly anticipated professional debut.
The University of Oregon graduate made history as a college athlete. Playing for the Ducks, Ionescu became the first player (female or male) in NCAA history to score a whopping combination of 2,000 career points, 1,0000 career rebounds, and 1,000 career assists. She also scored 26 triple-doubles throughout her collegiate career, also an NCAA record.
Ionescu finished her first game with a four for 17 job and scored all four free throws. But she failed to make any of her eight attempts for a 3-pointer. Clarendon was the Liberty's top-scorer with a game-high 20 points, and Ionescu followed her team lead by finishing the game with 12 points total.
Meanwhile, the Storm welcomed back 2018 MVP Stewart and 11-time WNBA All-Star Sue Bird, who sat on the sidelines last season to recover from a torn Achilles tendon and a knee surgery, respectively.
Stewart led the Storm with 18 points with a career-high four steals. Bird made 11 points and contributed five assists.
The Liberty will face the Dallas Wings on Wednesday and the Storm will take on the Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday.
Read more:
- A 12-year-old Sabrina Ionescu predicted that she'd play in the WNBA a decade before she was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick
- Basketball legend Diana Taurasi said Michael Jordan's win-at-all-costs mentality resonates with her
- College basketball star Sabrina Ionescu and her twin brother hustled adults at basketball courts as kids to win money for Slurpees
- Paige Bueckers — UConn basketball's next big star — is the 2020 Gatorade Athlete of the Year