WNBA playoffs: Liberty take Game 1 against Aces in semifinals behind Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu

The WNBA semifinals are here, and things got started with a bang: a blockbuster matchup between the New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces. Despite a number of turnovers, the Liberty held strong to take an 87-77 Game 1 win.

Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu combined for 55 points to get the win in front of a packed crowd at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. New York now leads Las Vegas 1-0 in the best-of-five semifinal series.

The Aces came with the energy, with all of the players wearing A’ja Wilson’s No. 22 jersey pregame to honor the unanimous 2024 WNBA MVP.

But the Liberty came out stronger, getting an early lead and never really letting it go. Although the Aces started to close in on a double-digit lead in the second quarter, getting within two points of the Liberty, New York pulled away again for a 48-38 lead heading into halftime.

Breanna Stewart had a dominant first half, going 8-for-10 from the floor to score 20 points, with 11 points in the first quarter.

In the second half, New York held on to the lead, going up by as many as 15 points, but six third-quarter turnovers sent Las Vegas on a 12-0 run to start to close the gap. The Liberty pushed back to lead by nine points at the end of the third quarter.

Stewart followed up her strong first half with a strong second half; however, the two-time MVP picked up her fourth foul near the end of the third quarter and was briefly benched. With Stewart playing more cautious, Ionescu happily filled in, getting eight points and two assists in the fourth quarter. An outrageous logo 3 from Ionescu in the fourth quarter got the entire crowd on its feet, keeping the Liberty momentum strong.

Stewart finished with 34 points, leading both teams. Ionescu ended with 21, and Jonquel Jones chipped in 13 points and 12 rebounds.

New York shot 50% overall, compared to Las Vegas’ 43.3%, but had 14 turnovers to Las Vegas’ 10 — something the Liberty will have to be careful of as the series continues.

On the Aces’ side, Wilson had a relatively quiet game, picking up 21 points with five assists and six rebounds, while Jackie Young pitched in 17 points. Kelsey Plum led the Aces with a strong 24-point performance, going 4-for-8 from 3 in between trash-talking with Spike Lee on the sideline.

The two teams continue the best-of-five series in Brooklyn on Tuesday (time TBD), before traveling to Las Vegas for Game 3 on Friday (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).