The New York Liberty defeated the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces to advance to the WNBA Finals.
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
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.
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.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
In WNBA FInals rematch, Liberty meet Aces again in semifinalsAfter sweeping the Atlanta Dream 2-0 in the first round of the WNBA playoffs, the New York Liberty will move on to face the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces
Read more »
Liberty set sights on avenging bitter WNBA Finals loss to AcesThe Liberty don’t need to watch tape of last year’s WNBA Finals loss to Las Vegas, or their three-game regular-season sweep of the Aces.
Read more »
Liberty beat Aces in thriller to move within win from WNBA Finals returnThe Liberty seized control of this semifinal series in its quest to avenge last year’s finals loss to the Aces with a 88-84 Game 2 win.
Read more »
Liberty look to sweep rival Aces and advance to WNBA FinalsOne year later, the Liberty can return the favor. One year later, they can send the Aces home.
Read more »
Liberty reach second straight WNBA Finals with revenge win over AcesThere will be a new WNBA champion in 2024.
Read more »
Ionescu scores 22 to lead Liberty to 76-62 win over Aces and into WNBA FinalsThe top-seeded Liberty will have home-court advantage in the championship series and will face either the Connecticut Sun or Minnesota Lynx.
Read more »