Liberty, Aces advance to WNBA semis, set up rematch of last year's Finals

The New York Liberty have been focused on bringing the first championship to the franchise after falling just short last year.

They moved one step closer to that goal as Sabrina Ionescu tied a franchise playoff record with 36 points to help the Liberty beat the Atlanta Dream 91-82 on Tuesday night and advance to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs.

"The ultimate goal is what it is. But, you know, it's every single game is a championship game to get to that final goal," Ionescu said. "And obviously our goal is to not lose at home. So this was really important for us to come out, take these two and have a couple days off and kind of rest, recharge and get ready for whatever it is we're going to play."

Jonquel Jones added 20 points and 13 rebounds for the top-seeded Liberty, who swept the best-of-three series and will face Las Vegas in the next round that begins Sunday in New York. The Aces beat the Liberty in the WNBA Finals last season.

"We have unfinished business," Jones said.

The Liberty took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter and the teams went back and forth before a layup by Courtney Vandersloot made it 75-72 with 5:41 left and started a 12-2 run. Breanna Stewart followed later in the spurt by swooping in for an offensive tip-in. It was her first points since the second quarter.

Leonie Fiebich, who scored 21 points in the opening game, then had a three-point play to extend the advantage to 82-74 with 4:11 left. She then hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to give New York a double-digit advantage for the first time in the game.

"It had a little bit of everything," Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said of the run.

Atlanta couldn't get closer than seven the rest of the way.

"I don't think it was anything they did different," Rhyne Howard said of New York's stretch run. "We fought pretty hard, laid it out there. Coach told us to not go home with any regrets and we did that."

The game drew another sellout crowd for New York that included Olympian Gabby Thomas, singer Pharrell as well as Spike Lee and Whoopi Goldberg. Rapper Ja Rule performed at halftime.

Ionescu said she got a high five from Lee during the third quarter.

"I felt like New York was injected into me. I was like, we're winning this," Ionescu said.

Aces 83, Storm 76

Kelsey Plum scored 29 points, A'ja Wilson had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and the Las Vegas Aces closed out the Seattle Storm 83-76 on Tuesday night to advance to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

Las Vegas, which has won 11 straight home games in the playoffs, swept the best-of-three series to set up a rematch of the 2023 WNBA Finals against top-seeded New York starting Sunday. The Aces are trying to become the first team to win three titles in a row since Houston won four straight from 1997-2000 in the league's first four seasons.

Wilson set a WNBA record by recording 20-plus points and at least 10 rebounds in 13 career playoff games, passing Tamika Catchings and Candace Parker. The WNBA MVP, who missed her first six shots in Game 1, went 5 of 7 from the field in the first quarter and finished 9 of 17.

After Seattle took its first lead of the game with 7:58 left in the fourth quarter, the Aces scored the next seven points for a 71-65 lead on Jackie Young's fast-break layup.

The Storm had a chance to get within 78-74 with 2:22 left but Ezi Magbegor missed both free throws. Chelsea Gray answered at the other end with a jumper from the free-throw line for an eight-point lead. Tiffany Hayes sealed it with a layup in traffic with 46 seconds to play.

Gray had 12 points and nine assists for Las Vegas. Plum, who was held to only two points in Game 1, finished 11 of 15 from the field.

Gabby Williams scored 20 points and Nneka Ogwumike had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Seattle. Magbegor, who missed Game 1 due to a concussion, added 14 points, Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 13 and Jewell Loyd was held to nine points on 3-of-11 shooting. Seattle was 6 of 12 from 3-point range in the first half before finishing 8 of 23.

Las Vegas made nine straight shots in the first quarter to build an early double-digit lead. Wilson completed a three-point play and Gray sank a 3-pointer on the next possession as Las Vegas opened the game on a 15-4 run. Plum and Gray each added a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to extend it to 23-7.

Wilson, Plum and Gray combined to score all of Las Vegas' 28 first-quarter points.

Seattle went on a 9-0 run in the second quarter to get within 39-38 as Las Vegas went more than four minutes without making a field goal. But the Aces closed the half on a 6-0 run, capped by Wilson's two free throws with 2.8 seconds left.