Ionescu scores 22 points to lead Liberty to a 76-62 victory over Aces and into the WNBA Finals

LAS VEGAS (AP) — It didn't take long for Sabrina Ionescu to quickly declare that what happened less than 48 hours earlier wouldn't happen again.

But she and her Liberty teammates had an even bigger message to deliver.

Ionescu recovered from a rare off game Scoring 22 points, and nearly a year after the Aces ended the Liberty's dream of a championship, New York got revenge with a 76-62 win over Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon to advance to the WNBA Finals.

Top-seeded Liberty has home-field advantage in the championship series and will face either the Connecticut Sun or Minnesota Lynx, who play Game 5 on Tuesday. This will be the Liberty's sixth appearance in the Finals, but the franchise is still searching for its first title.

“We haven’t done anything yet,” said New York’s Breanna Stewart, who had 19 points and 14 rebounds. “It was a tough series, an emotional series for various reasons. But we get to the finals and have Game 1 and Game 2 there. We're ready to go. Just the feeling of not being satisfied.”

New York lost in four games to the undermanned Aces on October 18, 2023, turning the painful defeat into a mission. The Liberty were the best team in the league this season, going 6-1, including the playoffs, against Las Vegas.

Ionescu said the Aces “made us a better team,” and she made it clear that she respected how difficult it was for Las Vegas to win two straight titles. But there's no doubt the Aces fueled New York's momentum by celebrating after last season, with coach Becky Hammon even having a chance in the victory parade against Stewart in the final game, going 3-for-17.

“We talked our crap, they heard it and they can talk their crap,” Hammon said Sunday. “It's part of the game. It's not personal. I can talk crap all I want. At the end of the day, I have a lot of respect for (coach) Sandy (Brondello). Sandy trained me. Sandy and I have known each other for a long time. Sab, Stewie, I have a lot of respect for these players. I think Stewie is phenomenal.”

The Aces, whose record-setting 12-game playoff winning streak ended at home, were hoping to make more WNBA history. Last year, they became the first team to win two straight titles since the Los Angeles Sparks in the 2001-2002 season and were trying to become the first club to win three straight championships since the Houston Comets won four in 1997-2000 won in a row.

“It's hard,” said A'ja Wilson, who led the Aces with 19 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. “Everyone wants to beat you. You're everyone's Super Bowl. (The loss) sucks, it hurts, but I’m very proud of the group we had.”

In addition to Ionescu and Stewart, Jonquel Jones scored 14 points despite struggling with foul trouble for most of the game, and Leonie Fiebich finished with 11 points.

For Las Vegas, Kelsey Plum (17 points) and Tiffany Hayes (11) along with Wilson scored in double figures.

The Aces couldn't keep up with a Liberty front line that dominated inside and defeated Las Vegas 48-27. Aces center Kiah Stokes missed her second straight game due to a concussion.

Ionescu showed almost immediately that this wouldn't be a repeat of Game 3 for them. She was averaging 24.5 points in the playoffs entering this game, but was limited to four points on 1-of-7 shooting Friday night. She didn't score until the fourth quarter.

This time, Ionescu needed just 3:04 to get on the scoreboard when she hit a three-pointer. She finished the first quarter with 12 points, making all four shots, including three 3s.

The Liberty led by just two points at the start of the fourth quarter, but outscored Las Vegas 23-11 in the final period to pull away.

The Aces made just 32.8% of their shots in the game, shooting 7 of 30 from the 3-point line.

“Holding Vegas to 24 points in the second half is pretty impressive,” Brondello said.

And unlike last year, the Liberty are now leaving the opposing floor with plenty of reason to celebrate.

“It was really nice to see how we stuck together,” Ionescu said. “Obviously we had a pretty tough game last game and it can go two ways. … We came here understanding that we want to do our best and do this because we deserve it.”

___

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball