Sabrina Ionescu continues hot shooting in Liberty win
For the first time in her WNBA career Oregon great Sabrina Ionescu recorded back-to-back 30-point games as she led the New York Liberty to an 86-81 win over the Atlanta Dream at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn New York Tuesday night.
The defending WNBA champions reached 10-1 on the season, overcoming a 17-point deficit in the third quarter. Ionescu topped all scorers with 34 points plus seven rebounds and five assists. Former Duck Nyara Sabally also started, contributing eight points and three rebounds.
The Liberty are 6-0 at home this season. The visitors built a 64-47 lead with just under four minutes to go in the third before a New York timeout. Ionescu hit a pair of 21-foot jumpers to ignite the comeback, then a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 10, a step-back jumper to cut it to eight at the end of the period.
Sabrina Ionescu is on ANOTHER LEVEL 🔥
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 18, 2025
Back-to-back 30+ point games for the first time EVER in her career after tonight's win over the Dream!
STATS: 34 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST, 4 threes#WelcometotheW pic.twitter.com/vRE5z77jqE
Another former Duck Te-Hina Paopao sparked the Dream with 16 points in just 15 minutes, hitting 6-8 from the floor and 4-5 from 3-point range.
Ionescu told the New York Post, "It was a great learning experience for us. They hit so many shots it felt like in that first half, and we kind of just hung our heads and were upset about it. And the second half we were able to see we’re just a lot more. We were flying out whether they made it or missed it. … We just played through it.”
Elsewhere in the league, hard fouls and a shoving match marred a game at Indiana as Caitlin Clark and the Fever beat the Sun 88-71.
Marina mabrey clearly shoving caitlin clark to the ground after a DEAD BALL and not getting ejected from the game is absolutely unbelievable. That was so clearly not a basketball play at all. Seriously do better refs… pic.twitter.com/vClvZK361C
— #22caitlinthegoat (@ccthegoat22) June 18, 2025
Dante Moore gives back
Oregon quarterback Dante Moore donated $10,000 of his NIL money to his old high school, Martin Luther KIng High in Detroit.
Dante Moore is a star at Oregon, but he's true to his Detroit roots
— Joel Sebastianelli (@JJSebastianelli) June 17, 2025
The Ducks QB and Heisman hopeful utilized NIL to give $10,000 to his high school @DetKingFootball and spent a day reading his book to @DetroitPAL kids
Moore shared his purpose for giving back with @Local4News👇 pic.twitter.com/CvRtrLaRx4
Oregon targets compete at Elite 11
Quarterbacks Bryson Beaver of Vista Murrieta High in Murrieta, California and Matt Ponatoski of Moeller High in Cincinnati are competing at the Elite 11 finals in Los Angeles.
Both garnered Oregon offers this spring, and Beaver is visiting the Ducks this weekend. Rivals analyst Adam Gorney reported Beaver "had a great night" and "could have made the Top Ten" after Day 1 of the competition, impressing scouts with his accuracy and consistency.
Bryson Beaver throws the rail shot pic.twitter.com/GMknj9mRBF
— Max Torres (@mtorressports) June 18, 2025