Sabrina Ionescu scored 22 points, Breanna Stewart recorded a double-double and the New York Liberty used an explosive fourth quarter to end the host Las Vegas Aces’ bid for a three-peat and return to the WNBA Finals with a 76-62 win on Sunday.
Top-seeded New York won the semifinal series 3-1 and will face either the second-seeded Minnesota Lynx or the third-seeded Connecticut Sun in the best-of-five championship series, which begins Thursday. The Liberty have never won a championship and lost last year’s final to Las Vegas in four games.
Ionescu added seven rebounds and made five 3-pointers, including one during a 12-0 run during the fourth quarter that pushed Liberty ahead 69-53 with 3:38 left. Stewart bundled 19 points with 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocks.
League MVP A’ja Wilson had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the fourth-seeded Aces. Las Vegas was trying to become the first WNBA team to win three straight titles since the Houston Comets won four in a row from 1997-2000.
Kelsey Plum added 17 points for the Aces, and Tiffany Hayes chipped in 11 off the bench.
New York limited Las Vegas to 32.8 percent shooting and outrebounded the hosts 48-27.
The Liberty led 57-53 early in the fourth quarter before ripping off 12 straight points to put the game out of reach.
Courtney Vandersloot made two layups before Ionescu and Jonquel Jones (14 points) canned back-to-back triples to make it 67-53 midway through the quarter. Leonie Fiebich’s free throws capped the run and gave New York a 16-point cushion. Fiebich finished with 11 points and seven boards.
The Aces shot just 4-of-17 in the final quarter and were outscored 23-11 over the final 10 minutes.
Ionescu shot 4-for-4 and made three treys during her 12-point first quarter that ended with New York leading 23-19.
The Liberty went up 37-27 midway through the second quarter after Fiebich made a 3-pointer and Stewart split two free throws. Stewart led all first-half scorers with 15 points, but Las Vegas kept Ionescu scoreless in the second quarter and closed within 41-38 by halftime.
Both defenses clamped down as the teams combined for 25 points in a back-and-forth third quarter.
Ionescu’s fourth 3-pointer propelled New York ahead 49-42 before Tiffany Hayes’ free throws pulled Las Vegas within 53-51 at the end of the frame. That margin stood after Jackie Young’s 55-foot heave for the Aces at the buzzer was overturned.
–Field Level Media