Liberty pulls away late, wins Game 2 and puts Aces in danger

NEW YORK – Sabrina Ionescu scored 24 points and the New York Liberty defeated the Las Vegas Aces 88-84 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series.

Game 3 takes place on Friday evening in Las Vegas. The two-time defending champion Aces are trying to avoid being eliminated by the team they defeated in the WNBA Finals last year.

No team in WNBA postseason history has overcome a 2-0 deficit to win a best-of-five playoff series. And only the Phoenix Mercury were able to force a Game 5 against the Seattle Storm in 2018.

The game was tied at 81 before Ionescu hit a jumper with 1:15 left to give New York a two-point lead. Both teams had chances before Ionescu fouled Tiffany Hayes on a jump ball with 16.9 seconds left.

Hayes hit the first of two free throws to make the game one point. New York secured the rebound and Ionescu was fouled with 11.6 seconds left and also only made one free throw to make it 84-82.

Las Vegas had a chance to tie the score, but the ball went out of bounds on the sideline with 10.5 seconds left in the game, and after New York challenged the claim that it was the Aces’ ball, the referees overturned it decision and gave Liberty the ball.

Ionescu then hit two free throws to make it a two-possession game. A’ja Wilson answered with a jumper with 5.6 seconds left before Breanna Stewart hit two free throws less than a second later to secure the win.

Stewart finished the game with 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Liberty.

Wilson scored 24 points and Jackie Young added 17 for the Aces.

The Liberty led 69-62 early in the final period before the Aces rallied behind Wilson and tied the game at 81 on Alysha Clark’s 3-pointer with 1:31 left.

After a rough start to Game 1, the Aces took a 27-22 lead after the first quarter behind a strong opening 10 minutes from Chelsea Gray. She had just four points in the Game 1 loss and coach Becky Hammon said she would have a conversation with her star guard. Gray responded by aggressively scoring 10 points in the first 10 minutes.

The teams went back and forth and Las Vegas led 40-37 with 2:33 left in the half before Ionescu hit two 3-pointers after a three-point play from Kayla Thornton to give New York a 46-40 lead at halftime , which drew loud cheers from the sellout crowd that included Carmelo Anthony, Alicia Keys, Robin Roberts, Colin Kaepernick and Gayle King.

Liberty star Teresa Weatherspoon was also in the audience. She was fired as coach by the Chicago Sky last week. When she was shown on the video screen in the fourth quarter, she received a very loud ovation from the fans.

It’s not just fans who come by to watch the series in person. Game 1 of the series drew an average television audience of 929,000. It was the most-watched WNBA semifinal in 22 years.

The Aces lost center Kiah Stokes with 9.5 seconds left in the third quarter. She chased a loose ball out of bounds and went down hard after committing a foul on a loose ball. She lay on the floor for a few minutes before she was helped back to the locker room. The team said she suffered a possible concussion.