By CNN
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New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu tied a franchise playoff record after scoring 36 points in the No. 1 seed’s 91-82 win against the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday.
The victory sees the Liberty advance to the WNBA playoff semifinals where they will meet the Las Vegas Aces, led by league MVP A’ja Wilson.
Speaking after the best-of-three series sweep over the Dream, Ionescu – who added nine assists and three steals – said the team is focused on clinching a first ever championship for the franchise but is taking it one game at a time.
“The ultimate goal is what it is. But, you know, every single game is a championship game to get to that final goal,” she said, per the Associated Press (AP).
“And obviously, our goal is to not lose at home. So this was really important for us to come out, take these two and have a couple days off and kind of rest, recharge and get ready for whatever it is we’re going to play.”
Despite elimination, Atlanta bared its teeth after a disappointing performance in Game 1.
The Dream had even established a double-digit lead over the Liberty after coming out strong in the opening quarters, led by the impressive Allisha Gray, who finished with 26 points.
But it wasn’t long before Ionescu found her range – finishing with five three-pointers – and the 26-year-old rallied the Liberty into action to set up a replay of last year’s WNBA Finals.
On that occasion, the Liberty lost 3-1 to the Aces – who won their second straight championship – but New York will hope for a different outcome this time around.
MVP A’ja Wilson keeps Aces on track for three-peat
To win a debut WNBA title, New York will need to find a way of stopping Wilson, who led Las Vegas to a series sweep against the Seattle Storm.
The Aces won 83-76 on Tuesday as the franchise bids for a three-peat, an achievement not seen since the now defunct Houston Comets won the first four championships in league history between 1997-2000.
A’ja Wilson powered to 24 points and 13 rebounds against Seattle, supported by Kelsey Plum who had a game-high 29 points to go along with six rebounds.
As she’s done throughout her historic MVP-winning season, the Aces center broke yet another WNBA record surpassing Tamika Catchings and Candace Parker by recording 20-plus points and at least 10 rebounds for the 13th time in the playoffs, per AP.
Las Vegas came out strong on Tuesday, hitting nine straight shots in the early going to earn a 23-7 lead with 5:15 left in the first.
But Seattle never went away and even took the lead for the first time in the game with 7:58 remaining in the fourth quarter.
But the Aces went on a 7-0 run to take the lead for good and fought off a resilient Storm squad to secure their sixth consecutive appearance in the playoff semifinals.
Las Vegas will now travel to New York to face the Liberty on Sunday in Game 1 of the best-of-five series.
“New York is a lot better team than they were last year,” Plum said after Tuesday’s win, per ESPN. “They’re bigger, they shoot the ball at a better clip. So credit to them.
“We have to focus on what we can do. Sometimes, we can be our own worst enemy. But they kicked our butt all three times (this season). This is a fresh start.
“But there’s no secret they’ve taken care of business and they’ve done what they needed to do, and that’s why they have the (No.) 1 seed. So it’s an uphill battle.”
