Sabrina Ionescu is in the midst of one of the roughest shooting stretches in her WNBA career.
And to cap the final game before a three-week break as international stars head to the FIBA Women’s World Cup, the Liberty guard missed all 10 of her shots in 23 minutes during Saturday’s 85-66 victory over the Chicago Sky.
Still, the four-time All-Star’s confidence isn’t wavering one bit.
“We’re kind of just laughing about it. It’s not that big of a deal to me. I know who I am. I know what I’m able to do. Kind of felt like the ball was allergic to the rim there for me,” said Ionescu, who scored just two points on free throws. “Like, it’s literally just like toilet bowling out. I’m not really understanding. They’re not like bad misses. They’re just literally popping out. So sometimes you just gotta laugh and shake it off. I’m not really worried.”
The 0-for-10 shooting afternoon — which included three missed treys — came with the star guard entering the Sky matchup shooting no better than 20% from downtown in seven consecutive games. The 34.5% career three-point shooter shot 23.2% from deep in the month of August.
Overall, Ionescu shot 37.4% from the field in August.
Ionescu, though, is sticking with the same process as if she knocked down every single shot.
“None different than if I went 10-for-10,” Ionescu said when asked what steps she takes to re-center herself in the midst of a skid. “To be completely honest, no matter what it is, the process stays the same for me, and that’s obviously making sure I’m taking the right shots, feeling confident, feeling good, and all the shots feel good to me.”
The guard noted not wanting to do the opposite of her process and turn down shots, which leads to not getting out of the funk.
“I’m right where I want to be. It’s an opportunity for me to grow and continue to get better and find ways to impact the game,” she said.
The last time Ionescu failed to record a field goal in a game came during the 2022 season, when she went 0-for-5 in a Commissioner’s Cup matchup against the Sky.
She failed to do so three times during the 2021 season.
As Ionescu’s confidence hasn’t wavered, it remains high amongst her teammates, too.
We believe in her. Every time it goes up, whether it goes in or not, I feel like it’s going in because that’s how much I believe in her,” said Jonquel Jones.
Star teammate Breanna Stewart said she pours into Ionescu by instilling confidence and telling her to “keep shooting.”