One year after their heartbreaking loss in the WNBA Finals, the New York Liberty defeated the Las Vegas Aces 76-62 to advance to the finals. WNBA Finals. The victory guaranteed them a second consecutive Finals appearance and ended the Aces' elusive chance for a third straight title. New York won the first two games at home and had a 2-0 lead in the series, but lost Game 3 on Friday night.
Liberty looked recharged Sunday afternoon and struggled hard in the game, trailing by 12 points from Sabrina Ionescu early in the first quarter. Ionescu made his first three 3-pointers and finished the afternoon with a game-high 22 points on 7-for-14 shooting, including threes.
New York held a three-point lead in the first half and a two-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but opened the final period with an 18-5 run to take control of the game and seal the fate of this series. I held it. . The final period started with back-to-back layups from Ionescu and Leonie Fibich (11 points, seven rebounds, four assists), and also included 3-pointers from Ionescu and Jonkel Jones (14 points, six rebounds).
On the Ace side, a turbulent season comes to an end at the hands of the same team they lost in the finals last season.
Las Vegas acknowledged from the beginning that this was a much-improved Liberty team from last season. They lost the first two games of the series, then dominated in Game 3, but ran out of steam in Game 4.
“New York is, plain and simple, a lot better than last year,” Kelsey Plum said ahead of the semifinal matchup. “Everything is better when done individually, like pound-for-pound.”
In Game 4, Aja Wilson led the way with 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Kelsey Plum added 17 points but was just 5-19 from the field, and Tiffany Hayes had 11 points off the bench. Jackie Young had a great Game 3 performance, scoring four points on just 1-10 from the field.
The Liberty will host the series winner between the Connecticut Sun and the Minnesota Lynx, with Game 1 of the finals scheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m. ET at Barclays Center. The Lynx lead the Sun 2-1 in the semifinals, with Game 4 currently underway.
This will be New York's sixth trip to the Finals, but the franchise is one of the few teams to have never won a WNBA Championship. He will have another chance to fight for first place later this week.
The victory over Ace was an important stepping stone towards his ultimate goal. Las Vegas has won the last two titles, and although they fell to the fourth seed this season, they were definitely a formidable opponent.
But this Liberty team is built with a championship in mind, and Brianna Stewart made that clear in her postgame press conference.
“We haven't done anything yet.”
