Breanna Stewart, Liberty defeat A’ja Wilson, Aces to take 1-0 lead in WNBA semi-finals

Nearly a year after they watched the Las Vegas Aces celebrate on their own court, the New York Liberty began to exact their revenge, coming away with an 87-77 win to take Game 1 of the WNBA semi-finals.

From the start, Breanna Stewart and the Liberty sent a clear message: this was a different Liberty team than last year’s. They were more experienced. They were individually better (see: Sabrina Ionescu). They were even taller (see: Leonie Fiebich). And they desperately wanted to rectify last year’s Finals performance (see: Breanna Stewart).

Now, they hold a 1-0 series lead against the two-time defending champion Aces.

In Sunday afternoon’s match-up, everything began — and ended — with Breanna Stewart. Stewart finished the game with 34 points on 12-19 shooting, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.

“I’m just trying to use my versatility in a number of ways,” Stewart told Holly Rowe after a 20-point first half. “I’m trying to set the bar for myself and continue to be great.”

Then, there was Sabrina Ionescu, who followed a 36-point explosion against the Atlanta Dream to post 21 points and 5 assists against Game 1 against the Aces.

For the Aces, A’ja Wilson finished with 21 points (9-16 shooting), 6 rebounds and 5 assists, battling with Jonquel Jones in the post for much of the night. The 6 rebounds are tied for a season low for Wilson.

“She still ended up with 21, but overall, we did a good job on her,” Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello said postgame. “She had to work for all those points that she got.”

“We’re playing to our scouting report really well,” Stewart added.

Kelsey Plum led the way with 24 points on 9-17 shooting, and had a monster third quarter to keep the Aces in it — scoring 12 consecutive points for Las Vegas.

But, every time the Aces made a push, the Liberty responded.

“We handled their runs really well,” Ionescu said.

Plum’s performance was critical in keep Las Vegas in the mix in the second half — they fell behind by as many as 18 — but the rest of the guard cast underperformed, at least to the standards that are likely required for Las Vegas to pull off the win in this series.

Tiffany Hayes finished with just 2 points on 0-2 shooting, Chelsea Gray with just 4 points on 2-7 shooting, and Jackie Young with 17 points on 6-16 shooting.

“There’s no doubt that Jackie [Young], Kelsey [Plum], Chelsea [Gray] and Tip [Tiffany Hayes] need to play well in this series for us to win,” Aces head coach Becky Hammon said ahead of Game 1.

Young was aggressive but continued to struggle with her shot, hitting 2-7 from beyond the arc. On the defensive end, she was tasked with containing Ionescu, who continued to find a groove from beyond the arc, making 3 of 6 from deep.

“She’s always — night in and night out — responsible for the other team’s best perimeter player, which is exhausting,” Hammon said pregame of Young. “The fatigue stuff really all comes into play with shooting and explosiveness to the rim.”

After the game, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu both addressed the raucous Barcaly’s Center crowd.

“Show up, we need you guys,” Sabrina Ionescu yelled as she walked off the floor, urging a similar level of energy for Tuesday’s Game 2.

It’s only one win, but it’s a welcome sign for the Liberty.

“We’re hungry,” Stewart said in her walk-off interview. “We just want to continue to be better.”

The Liberty will host the Aces again on Tuesday, October first at Barclay’s Center. Then, game action heads back to Las Vegas, where the Aces will get an opportunity to play in front of their home crowd at the Michelob ULTRA Center.