Liberty reach second straight WNBA Finals with revenge win over Aces

There will be a new WNBA champion in 2024.

The desired vindication has been achieved and the Liberty will return to Barclays Center to play for their first title.

A year later, a round earlier, and in a not-so-pretty Game 4, the Liberty earned their revenge against the Aces, who took them down in four games in the 2023 finals, punching their second consecutive ticket to the WNBA Finals after a 76-62 win over Las Vegas at Michelob ULTRA Arena on Sunday.

“We haven’t done anything yet,” Breanna Stewart said after the victory. “This was a tough series and an emotional series for a number of different reasons. But we’re going to the finals and we’re hosting Game 1 and Game 2, and we’ll see who we’ll play, but we’re ready to go.”

The Liberty entered the fourth quarter with a slim three-point lead and two of their starters — Leonie Fiebich and Jonquel Jones — were saddled with four fouls each.

Courtney Vandersloot was also carrying three.

However, they were able to keep their composure in the final quarter after a turnover and foul-heavy game, and they committed no turnovers in the final 10 minutes.

The Liberty opened the final quarter by making their first two shots, including a drive from Sabrina Ionescu.

The star guard then went on to make her fifth 3-pointer of the game for a 7-0 Liberty run and their largest lead of the game (11 points) to that point.

Jones followed with a 3-pointer and Fiebich added a bucket in the paint and a pair of makes from the free-throw line to carry the Liberty to victory.

“Whether they had momentum or not, we were going to take it back,” Stewart said of the fourth quarter. “We knew Leo [Fiebich] and JJ [Jones] were in foul trouble coming into the fourth… We were able to scramble. Put them in tough situations offensively and then take whatever we wanted on the other end.”

The Liberty had lost back-to-back games only once this season, and kept that distinction intact Sunday.

They also put a halt to the Aces’ league record of 12 consecutive playoff wins.

They will play either the No. 2 Sun or No. 3 Lynx.

That series is tied, 2-2, after the Sun’s 92-82 victory Sunday.

A deciding fifth game will be played Tuesday night in Minneapolis.

A key for New York was Ionescu’s bounce-back after being held to just four points in Game 3.

She scored 22 points Sunday, shooting 5 of 8 from beyond the arc, and Stewart followed with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

“I mean, just continuing to read the game, understanding what I didn’t do well last game and being able to adjust quickly,” Ionescu said. “And you go back, watch film, and figure out ways that you can continue to improve and not be complacent with the way that they were defending me. Able to get up the floor and set screens a lot higher really helped me to get open and, thankfully, my teammates found me.”

The Liberty held the Aces to just 32 percent shooting and kept them away from second-chance points by grabbing 48 rebounds.

A’ja Wilson, the 2024 league MVP, led Las Vegas with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

After earning as large as a 10-point lead in the opening quarter and forcing the Aces to miss 10 field goals across five minutes, the Liberty ran into foul trouble in the second quarter.

Fiebich earned her third foul halfway through the quarter after causing a trip that led to a collision between Alysha Clark and Stewart.

At 6-foot-4, Fiebich has given the Liberty great length all across the court and was plus-28 Sunday to go along with 11 points.

Foul trouble was an issue the Liberty were able to overcome.

Two of the starters were forced to head to the bench just as the Aces cut the Liberty’s lead 41-39 heading into halftime.

Game 1 of the WNBA Finals is set for Thursday in Brooklyn.