Liberty advances to the WNBA Finals, ending the Aces’ season with a 76-62 win in Game 4

The Las Vegas Aces’ dreams of a three-peat WNBA championship are extinguished. Instead, the New York Liberty advance to the WNBA Finals after defeating the Aces 76-62 in Game 4 of the semifinals on Sunday.

The Liberty ended the Aces’ season in front of a loud, packed Las Vegas crowd, taking an early lead and never quite letting it go. The Aces put up a good fight in the physical duel, but struggled to land shots despite some great performances. The game was close in the third quarter before New York pulled away and took a dominant 14-point win.

Both teams started slowly and struggled to score, with the Liberty going 9 of 19 and the Aces 6 of 19 in the first quarter. Jackie Young scored a three-pointer to open the game for the Aces, but Las Vegas didn’t score again until halfway through the quarter. Both teams eventually found their footing and the Aces made it even closer, with New York taking a 23-19 lead into the second quarter.

Sabrina Ionescu, who had just four points in Game 3, scored 12 points in the first quarter and went 4 of 4 (including three 3-pointers).

The Liberty, which led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, maintained the lead despite a push-and-pull from the Aces, who got within a point just a minute before halftime. Despite being able to take the lead, Las Vegas failed to put the ball in the net despite multiple attempts. Breanna Stewart made a layup to give the Liberty a three-point lead heading into the locker room.

In the third quarter, New York and Las Vegas remained in a kind of holding pattern. Jonquel Jones and Leonie Fiebich got into early foul trouble for the Liberty, forcing the team to adjust. A’ja Wilson, meanwhile, continued to be a dominant defensive force: a massive block on Stewart sparked loud chants of “MVP” from the crowd. Wilson finished with five blocks.

Despite the ongoing difficulties, the Aces nearly took the lead at the end of the third quarter. Young made an insane buzzer-beating halfcourt shot that was impressive even if it didn’t count.

The momentum that Young’s miss could have created didn’t last in the fourth quarter, as the team quickly dropped six points and Becky Hammon had to call a timeout just 71 seconds into the quarter. Stewart and Wilson exchanged some big blocks, but the Liberty pulled ahead by 11 points – their largest of the game – after a massive three-pointer from Ionescu.

From there, New York only pulled away further, solidifying the win and securing a berth in the WNBA Finals for the second straight year. With the win, New York ended a 12-game home playoff loss to Las Vegas.

In the end, it came down to the score: Las Vegas scored a total of 21 of 64 goals and 7 of 30 goals on 3-pointers. Wilson, the Aces’ all-time leading scorer, still led the team with 19 points, but was less productive than usual and missed some key shots that she usually makes with ease. Kelsey Plum finished with 17 points, making 3 of 9 3-point attempts.

Ionescu led both teams with 22 points and finished with five 3-pointers. Stewart had 19 points and 14 rebounds while Jones scored 14 points.

Sunday now marks the end of Wilson’s season, with the MVP coming off the best year of her career. As time expired, Wilson shared a nice moment with Stewart, showing he wasn’t uncomfortable about the loss.

New York will now face the winner of the Connecticut Sun-Minnesota Lynx series in the finale, which is scheduled to begin on Thursday. The Lynx currently lead 2-1 with Game 4 taking place on Sunday.