Top-seeded Liberty pull away from Aces in fourth quarter to advance to WNBA Finals

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu rebounded from a rare off game to score 22 points, and nearly a year after the Aces ended the Liberty’s dream of a championship, New York returned the favor Sunday afternoon by defeating Las Vegas 76-62 to advance to the WNBA Finals.

The top-seeded Liberty will have home-court advantage in the championship series and will face either the Connecticut Sun or Minnesota Lynx. This is the Liberty’s sixth trip to the finals, but the franchise is still seeking its first title.

New York lost in four games to the shorthanded Aces on Oct. 18, 2023, and turned the painful defeat into a mission. The Liberty have been the league’s best team this season and, including the playoffs, went 6-1 against Las Vegas.

The Aces, whose record 12-game home playoff winning streak ended, were hoping to make more WNBA history. They became the first team since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001-02 to win back-to-back titles and were trying to become the first club to capture three successive championships since the Houston Comets took four straight in 1997-2000.

In addition to Ionescu, Breanna Stewart totaled 19 points and 14 rebounds, Jonquel Jones scored 14 points despite being in foul trouble 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 had 11 points.

Ionescu showed almost right away this wouldn’t 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 nailed a corned 3-pointer. She finished the first quarter with 12 points, making all four shots that included three 3s.

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

Aces center Kiah Stokes missed her second game in a row because of a concussion late in Game 2.