NEW YORK (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu tied a franchise playoff record with 36 points and the New York Liberty beat the Atlanta Dream 91-82 on Tuesday night to advance to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs.
Jonquel Jones added 20 points and 13 rebounds for the top-seeded Liberty, who swept the best-of-three series and will face Las Vegas in the next round that begins Sunday in New York.
The Liberty took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter and the teams went back and forth before a layup by Courtney Vandersloot made it 75-72 with 5:41 left and started a 12-2 run. Breanna Stewart followed later in the spurt by swooping in for an offensive tip-in. It was her first points since the second quarter.
Leonie Fiebich, who scored 21 points in the opening game, then had a three-point play to extend the advantage to 82-74 with 4:11 left. She then hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to give New York a double-digit advantage for the first time in the game.
Atlanta couldn’t get closer than seven the rest of the way.
ACES 83, STORM 76
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Kelsey Plum scored 29 points, A’ja Wilson had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Las Vegas closed out Seattle to advance to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.
Las Vegas, which has won 11 straight home games in the playoffs, swept the best-of-three series to set up a rematch of the 2023 WNBA Finals against top-seeded New York starting Sunday. The Aces are trying to become the first team to win three titles in a row since Houston won four straight from 1997-2000 in the league’s first four seasons.
Wilson set a WNBA record by recording 20-plus points and at least 10 rebounds in 13 career playoff games, passing Tamika Catchings and Candace Parker. The WNBA MVP, who missed her first six shots in Game 1, went 5 of 7 from the field in the first quarter and finished 9 of 17.
After Seattle took its first lead of the game with 7:58 left in the fourth quarter, the Aces scored the next seven points for a 71-65 lead on Jackie Young’s fast-break layup.
The Storm had a chance to get within 78-74 with 2:22 left but Ezi Magbegor missed both free throws. Chelsea Gray answered at the other end with a jumper from the free-throw line for an eight-point lead. Tiffany Hayes sealed it with a layup in traffic with 46 seconds to play.
Gray had 12 points and nine assists for Las Vegas. Plum, who was held to only two points in Game 1, finished 11 of 15 from the field.
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