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Sabrina Ionescu answered all 200 text messages after sinking the Liberty winner

Sabrina Ionescu answered all 200 text messages after sinking the Liberty winner

Nine seconds left. Nine dribbles after the incoming pass.

One shot – the shot of a lifetime.

Two hundred text messages later, Sabrina Ionescu, 28, has only just finished catching up.

“I responded (to everyone) on Wednesday night,” Ionescu said of the outpouring of congratulations that followed her winner, as The Washington Post’s Kareem Copeland reported. “I’m a big responder because it’s all the people who have supported me.”

Ionescu's 28-foot dagger caught nothing but the net in the final seconds of Game 3 of the WNBA Finals on Wednesday night, lifting New York over Minnesota by a score of 80-77.

Sabrina Ionescu scores the game-winner in Game 3 against the Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday, October 16th. NBAE via Getty Images

On Friday, the Liberty will look to complete the best-of-five series and secure their first championship in franchise history.

First, however, we had to answer messages.

“Whether I win or lose, people are always texting me,” Ionescu said, according to Copeland. “My husband got angry. He was like, 'Come on. Go to bed.' I thought, 'No, I have to respond to everyone and just tell everyone, 'Thank you'.”

Sabrina Ionescu and the New York Liberty are just one win away from winning the franchise's first WNBA championship. NBAE via Getty Images

“The overwhelming support I've received from everyone around me means a lot to me – every single text and phone call, just knowing that the village needs it…” she said.

Among these villagers, the king was the Logo-3.

“Steph Curry left me a really funny voice memo of him screaming into the phone,” Ionescu shared on SportsCenter. “And that was funny because we just had a great relationship and he was a big mentor to me.”

Sabrina Ionescu hits a game-winning 3-pointer in Game 3 of the Liberty's WNBA Finals against the Lynx on October 16, 2024. AP

If the Liberty prevail tonight (8 p.m., on ESPN), there will be more messages to answer.

If.

“I turned the page,” Ionescu said. “I can’t stay at this high level for too long because the work isn’t done yet and we still have a game.”

“And when we’re done with it,” she added, “I’ll probably watch it a million more times.”

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