Ionescu over the offseason sought to improve her first step and ability to beat defenders off the dribble in order to become less one-dimensional on offense. It was evident in the Liberty’s 87-77 Game 1 win over the Aces Sunday night in the WNBA semifinals.

Sabrina Ionescu paused for a second and checked her feet to make sure she was behind the 3-point line. She took a breath then fired, draining a 3 to stretch the New York Liberty lead to 11 points. As she frolicked backward with just over seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter,

Ionescu was an All-Star and All-WNBA second team honoree for the third straight year, and she gained an Olympic gold medal in between. Now she’s on primary ball-handling duty with Courtney Vandersloot taking a reserve role for the playoffs.