Sabrina Ionescu Drops 12, Liberty Lose to Breanna Stewart, Storm in WNBA Opener

Seattle Storm superstar Breanna Stewart spoiled Sabrina Ionescu's much-anticipated WNBA debut for the New York Liberty. 

2018 MVP  Stewart scored 18 points and added eight rebounds and four steals in an 87-71 victory over the Liberty on Saturday. Sue Bird added 11 points and five assists.

Ionescu had an up-and-down performance, posting 12 points, six rebounds and four assists while shooting 4-of-17 from the field in just under 34 minutes. The veteran-laden Liberty clearly made it a priority to slow down the young phenom:

Ionescu did show flashes of the brilliance that made her the top overall pick in this year's WNBA draft, however, including this nasty crossover at the expense of defensive stalwart Natasha Howard:

Her first professional bucket was a bit less picturesque, but they all count just the same:

Point guard Layshia Clarendon led the young Liberty with 20 points, but the combo of Stewart and Bird was simply too good for the Liberty to overcome:

That duo led the Storm to a WNBA title in 2018, but both missed the entirety of the 2019 season because of injuries (Stewart with a torn Achilles, Bird after having arthroscopic surgery on her left knee).

Bird said before the season began that expectations were high for the Storm in the league's abbreviated 22-game regular season, per Larry Stone of the Seattle Times: 

"Do I think right out of the gate we're probably in the top part of the league? Yeah, but that's just on paper. One thing I've learned in this league, it doesn't matter if you won the year before or have the same team back. Paper is paper. It means nothing.

"For myself and Stewie, we haven't played for a long time. This group hasn't played together for a long time. I think it would be a major trap to fall into us believing in the mantra of, 'Oh, in 2018 we did it, so we're the favorite.' Or, 'Oh, this is what it was like in 2018 and try to mimic that.' I think this is a new year."

The Storm looked good on Saturday, however. Certainly good enough to give Ionescu a rough introduction to life in the WNBA.