In the WNBA first-round playoff series between the New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury, two of Oregon women’s basketball legends played in their first playoff series against one another.

Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally were drafted No. 1 and No. 2 overall in the 2020 WNBA Draft, respectively, becoming the fourth pair of college teammates to accomplish the feat after stellar careers for the Ducks.

On Friday, Sept. 19, Sabally and the Mercury got the better of Ionescu and the defending champion Liberty in Game 3 of the best-of-three series, 79-73, in Phoenix.

Sabally scored a team-high 23 points to go along with 12 rebounds in the win, by far her best game of the series. Ionescu countered with her best game of the series, scoring 22 points, hauling in six rebounds and dishing out four assists.

The Mercury will advance to play the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA semifinals while the Liberty’s season is over. It’s Sabally’s second trip to the WNBA semis after she helped take the Dallas Wings to the semifinals in 2023.

Former Duck and Satou’s sister, Nyara Sabally, also plays for the Liberty but got on the floor for just seven minutes in Game 2. She went 0 for 3, scored one point and hauled in one rebound.

The Liberty took Game 1 of the series in Phoenix, 76-69, thanks to late overtime heroics by Natasha Cloud and Leonie Fiebich. Cloud scored a game-high 23 points and had six rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Ionescu played a game-high 43 minutes and scored 16 points with six rebounds and seven assists while Satou Sabally scored nine points and hauled in eight rebounds for the Mercury.

Both Ionescu and Sabally struggled from distance in Game 1, with Sabally going 1 for 10 from 3-point land and 2 for 17 in the game overall while Ionescu went 3 for 12 from distance and 3 for 6 on 2-point attempts.

Sabally bounced back in Game 2 to help the Mercury even the series and force the winner-take-all Game 3 in an 86-60 Phoenix victory. Sabally scored 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting with seven rebounds while Ionescu scored eight points on 3-for-13 shooting.

Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on Bluesky and X.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Satou Sabally, Mercury best Sabrina Ionescu, Liberty in WNBA playoffs