Liberty through to WNBA finals after knocking out defending champion Aces

Nearly a year after the Aces ended their freedom dream of a championship, New York returned the favor by defeating Las Vegas 76-62 to advance to the WNBA Finals. Sabrina Ionescu was the star on Sunday as she bounced back from a rare off night in Game 3 to score 22 points.

Top-seeded Liberty will have home field advantage in the championship series and will face the Connecticut Sun or Minnesota Lynx. This is the Liberty’s sixth trip to the finals, but the franchise is still looking for its first title.

New York lost in four games to the shorthanded Aces last October and turned the painful defeat into a mission. The Liberty was the best team in the league this season, winning 6-1 against Las Vegas, including the playoffs.

The Aces, whose 12-game winning streak in home playoffs ended their streak, were hoping to make more WNBA history. They became the first team since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001–02 to win consecutive titles and attempted to become the first club to capture three consecutive championships since the Houston Comets won four in a row in 1997–2000.

Besides Ionescu, Breanna Stewart totaled 19 points and 14 rebounds, Jonquel Jones scored 14 points despite being in foul trouble for most of the game and Leonie Fiebich finished with 11 points. For Las Vegas, A’ja Wilson had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots, Kelsey Plum scored 17 points and Tiffany Hayes 11 points.

Ionescu showed almost immediately that this would not be a repeat of Game 3 for her. She averaged 24.5 points in the playoffs entering that game, but was held 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 scored a three-pointer in the corner. She finished the first quarter with 12 points and made all four shots, including three threes.

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

Aces center Kiah Stokes missed her second straight game due to a concussion late in Game 2.