Sabrina Ionescu, Liberty hold off Aces for 2-0 edge
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New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu drives past Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young in the third quarter.
Sabrina Ionescu scored or assisted on almost every New York point in the fourth quarter, and she powered the host Liberty to an 88-84 win over the visiting Las Vegas Aces today and a 2-0 lead in the WNBA semifinals.
Ionescu finished with 24 points and nine rebounds for the Liberty, who will aim to sweep the best-of-three series on Friday in Las Vegas.
New York saw a second-half lead of as many as 10 points vanish as Las Vegas pulled into an 81-81 tie with 91 seconds remaining in regulation when Alysha Clark connected on a 3-pointer. The Liberty endured a scoring drought of almost three minutes early in the quarter to facilitate the Aces’ comeback.
However, after Clark tied the contest with the last of her 13 points, Ionescu answered with a pull-up jumper that gave New York the lead for good with 1:15 to go.
Ionescu was in on 16 of the Liberty’s 19 points in the final period, either scoring or feeding teammates.
New York’s Breanna Stewart finished with 15 points, a game-high eight assists and seven rebounds, contributing in other ways on an off-shooting night. Stewart went 0-for-5 from 3-point range and 5-for-15 from the floor overall, and the Liberty were 9-for-29 (31 percent) from beyond the arc.
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Las Vegas shot 12-for-27 (44.4 percent) from long distance. Jackie Young set the pace going 4-of-8 on 3-point attempts en route to 17 points, while Clark finished 3-for-7 from deep. Chelsea Gray, who scored 14 points, added two 3-pointers, and Kelsey Plum scored all six of her points from behind the 3-point arc.
The Aces’ outside shooting helped keep Las Vegas in striking distance amid a slow start from A’ja Wilson. The 2024 WNBA Most Valuable Player had just six points in the first half, but she came alive down the stretch to match Ionescu’s game-high 24 points.
Wilson added a team-high seven rebounds and scored 12 of her points in the fourth quarter, including a jumper with 5.8 seconds remaining that pulled Las Vegas within two points. The Aces could not force a turnover, however, and Stewart’s two late foul shots sealed New York’s fifth straight win over the two-time reigning WNBA champions dating back to the regular season.
