Liberty hoping to rebound, leave Las Vegas with trip to WNBA Finals
Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) is defended by Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum, top, during a WNBA basketball semifinal game Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Las Vegas. Credit: AP/Ronda Churchill
The Aces showed Friday night that it’s still going to be a difficult job to evict them in these WNBA semifinals, that they’re still intent on keeping the throne.
The two-time defending champs were exceptional and the top-seeded Liberty were not in Game 3 when the best-of-five series shifted to Las Vegas and the Liberty had a chance to complete a sweep.
The fourth-seeded Aces’ 95-81 win was their WNBA-record 12th straight at home in postseason play. Now the Liberty need to take Game 4 there Sunday or be faced with a nerve-racking win-or-else finale Tuesday night at Barclays Center.
“The reality is it’s hard to sweep and this is a great basketball team,” Courtney Vandersloot said following the loss. “And so we’re not panicking by any means. We know that we have to make adjustments and just rely on what we’ve done all season.”
The Liberty were hurt by guards Jackie Young (24 points), Kelsey Plum (20) and Chelsea Gray (10 points, seven assists), and MVP A’ja Wilson (19 points, 14 rebounds).
The Las Vegas lead was three at halftime. Then the Aces outscored the Liberty 21-6 in the third. The Aces held them to 2-for-14 shooting and forced seven turnovers.
It was 73-55 after three. The margin then swelled to 25.
“I thought that was probably our most complete game of the season,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said.
The Aces displayed their urgency. And they were back home.
“They’re going to be aggressive,” Breanna Stewart said. “They’re going to use their fans. They’re going to use the momentum behind it. And I think we just didn’t come ready for all that.”
Here was another large factor: The Aces wanted to make Sabrina Ionescu uncomfortable. They pressured her and tried not to let her drive. She shot 1-for-7 and scored four points — none until the fourth.
“A-plus,” Hammon said, grading the defensive effort.
Ionescu was averaging 24.5 in the playoffs.
“For us, she has just got to continue to trust that we’ll get the ball back to her, and take the ones that are open,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “ . . . But she’ll be fine.”
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