Breanna Stewart’s 34 points power Liberty past Aces for Game 1 win

Going into the WNBA semifinal series between the Liberty and Aces, a rematch of last year’s final, both teams knew their opponent would go on a run.

It’s natural to expect that with two superteams.

Liberty coach Sandy Brondello was ready for a “chess game,” and Aces coach Becky Hammon still expected the Liberty to play like the “pissed-off team” that they had seen all year, seeking vengeance in this best-of-five semifinal.

Despite the Aces walking into Barclays Center wearing A’ja Wilson jerseys in support of the 2024 MVP — after Breanna Stewart won the award last year — the Liberty’s big three of Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu and Stewart were the MVPs of Game 1 on Sunday afternoon, delivering the first punch against Las Vegas in an 87-77 win in front of a sold-out crowd at Barclays Center.

“I think we handled their runs really well,” Ionescu said after the win. “We went on great runs, we had good leads, and they came back. They went on runs, and we were able to get some stops defensively. That just kinda allowed me to be able to see the 3-point line, see some shots go in and try to kill their momentum. I think we stuck together really well.”

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The Liberty got into some trouble with 33.2 seconds left in the third quarter when Stewart earned her fourth foul.

With the hot-shooting Stewart — 34 points on 12 of 19 from the floor — in foul trouble, the Liberty were forced to look more to Ionescu and Jones in the final quarter.

Ionescu picked up the scoring mantle, while Jones handled Wilson on the other end.

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The Aces fought back to cut the Liberty lead to nine at the start of the fourth quarter, and Stewart was subbed back in with under eight minutes to go.

Ionescu drove to the rim and found Kennedy Burke open on the baseline for a layup. On the following two possessions, Ionescu found the kind of separation the Aces couldn’t afford to allow. She made two 3-pointers in a row to give the Liberty an 81-68 lead with under seven minutes to play.

“I think that we’re playing to our scouting report really well,” Stewart said. “Knowing, obviously, where A’ja is because of the talent that she is and making sure that when we do send two to the ball, we have to have help on the backside. Someone is continuing to rotate, and if they’re going to take a 3, it’s going to be a contested one.”

Jones said Saturday that the Liberty were “coming out to prove them wrong and prove ourselves right,” and they did just that.

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Jones and Stewart controlled the paint more efficiently in the beginning of the game and finished with 42 points inside against the Aces’ 38. They also out-rebounded Las Vegas by nine and outpaced them with 16 fast-break points.

Ionescu finished with 21 points, and Jones had 13. The Liberty limited Wilson to 21 points and a career-low tying six rebounds.

“We knew we wanted to play with a sense of urgency and protect our home court, and A’ja is obviously a key player for them,” Brondello said. “She still ended up with 21, but overall, we did a good job on her. She had to work for all those points that she got. When you got J.J. and Stewie out there and just throw a few different looks at her, I think that just made her a little bit uncomfortable. Hopefully, we can slow her down in Game 2, as well.”

The Aces were led by Kelsey Plum with 24 points. Jackie Young added 17, and Alysha Clark had nine.

The Liberty came out fast, shooting nearly 70 percent from the field in the first quarter, including an 8-0 run, and eventually led by as many as 18 points.

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