Ionescu scores 22 points to lead Liberty to 76-62 win over Aces and into WNBA Finals

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu didn't take long to make a quick statement that what transpired not even 48 hours earlier would not happen again.

But she and her Liberty teammates had an even larger message to deliver.

Ionescu rebounded from a rare off game to score 22 points, and nearly a year after the Aces ended the Liberty's dream of a championship, New York returned the favor Sunday afternoon by defeating Las Vegas 76-62 to advance to the WNBA Finals.

The top-seeded Liberty will have home-court advantage in the championship series and will face either the Connecticut Sun or Minnesota Lynx, who will play Game 5 on Tuesday. This is the Liberty's sixth trip to the finals, but the franchise is still seeking its first title.

“We haven't done anything yet,” said New York's Breanna Stewart, who had 19 points and 14 rebounds. “This was a tough series, 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. We're ready to go. Just the feeling of not (being) satisfied."

New York lost in four games to the shorthanded Aces on Oct. 18, 2023, and turned the painful defeat into a mission. The Liberty have been the league's best team this season and, including the playoffs, went 6-1 against Las Vegas.

Ionescu said the Aces “made us a better team,” and she made it clear she respects how difficult it was for Las Vegas to win back-to-back titles. But, no doubt, the Aces fueled New York's drive by how they celebrated after last season, with coach Becky Hammon even taking a shot during the victory parade at Stewart going 3 for 17 in the final game.

“We talked our crap, they heard and they get to talk their crap,” Hammon said Sunday. “It's part of the game. It's not personal. I can talk crap all I want. At the end of the day, I have mad respect for (coach) Sandy (Brondello). Sandy coached me. Me and Sandy go way back. Sab, Stewie, I have mad respect for those players. I think Stewie is phenomenal.”

The Aces, whose record 12-game home playoff winning streak ended, were hoping to make more WNBA history. Last year, they became the first team since the Los Angeles Sparks in 2001-02 to win back-to-back titles and were trying to become the first club to capture three successive championships since the Houston Comets took four straight in 1997-2000.

“It's hard,” said A'ja Wilson, who led the Aces with 19 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. “Everybody wants to beat you. You're everybody's Super Bowl. (The loss) sucks, it stings, but I'm very proud about the group that we had.”

In addition to Ionescu and Stewart, Jonquel Jones scored 14 points despite being in foul trouble most of the game and Leonie Fiebich finished with 11 points.

For Las Vegas, Kelsey Plum (17 points) and Tiffany Hayes (11) joined Wilson in scoring in double figures.

The Aces couldn't contend with a Liberty front line that dominated inside, outrebounding Las Vegas 48-27. Aces center Kiah Stokes missed her second game in a row because of a concussion.

Ionescu showed almost right away this wouldn't be a repeat of Game 3 for her. She averaged 24.5 points in the playoffs entering that game, but was held to four points on 1-of-7 shooting Friday night. She didn't score until the fourth quarter.

This time, Ionescu needed just 3:04 to get on the scoreboard when she nailed a corned 3-pointer. She finished the first quarter with 12 points, making all four shots that included three 3s.

The Liberty led by just two points entering the fourth quarter but then outscored Las Vegas 23-11 in the final period to pull away.

The Aces made just 32.8% shots for the game that included going 7 of 30 from the 3-point line.

“To hold Vegas to 24 points in the second half is pretty impressive,” Brondello said.

And now, unlike last year, it's the Liberty walking off the opposing floor with plenty to celebrate.

“It was really nice to see how we stuck together,” Ionescu said. “Obviously, we had a kind of rough game last game and it can go one of two ways. ... We came out here and understood we wanted to be our best and get this done because we deserve that.”

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson reacts while being fouled by New York Liberty forward Kayla Thornton during the first half of a WNBA Semifinal basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) goes up for a basket over New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) during the first half of a WNBA Semifinal basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson goes up for a basket during the first half of a WNBA Semifinal basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) grabs a rebound over Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson and guard Kelsey Plum during the first half of a WNBA Semifinal basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon yells during the first half of a WNBA Semifinal basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

New York Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot (22) grabs a rebound over Las Vegas Aces guard Tiffany Hayes (15) during the first half of a WNBA Semifinal basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young (0) attempts to step over New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) during the first half of a WNBA Semifinal basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young (0) shoots over New York Liberty forward Betnijah Laney-Hamilton (44) during the first half of a WNBA Semifinal basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray knocks the ball away from New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) during the first half of a WNBA Semifinal basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) reacts after a three-point- basket during the first half of a WNBA Semifinal basketball game, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

TALLADEGA (AP) — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. snapped a 65-race losing streak by winning in overtime at Talladega Superspeedway after a late crash collected more than half the field, including eight of the 12 championship contenders.

Stenhouse is not in the playoffs and his victory Sunday marked the second consecutive week a driver not competing for the Cup Series title has won.

The victory was the first for Stenhouse and his JTG Daugherty Racing team since he won the season-opening Daytona 500 to start 2023.

“It felt really good. This team has put a lot of hard work in, obviously we haven’t won since the 500 in ’23. It’s been an up-and-down season,” Stenhouse said. “It was a lot of hard work this season just trying to find a little bit of speed, but we knew that this track is one of ours to come get.”

Stenhouse's first career victory came at Talladega in 2017 and his four career Cup Series victories have come at either the Alabama superspeedway or Daytona International Speedway.

Stenhouse won in a three-wide finish between Brad Keselowski and William Byron, who with his third-place finish became the only driver locked into the third round of the playoffs.

Four drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs next Sunday on the hybrid road course/oval at Charlotte. Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe are all below the cutline.

Cindric was the leader with five laps remaining in regulation when Logano, two rows back, gave Keselowski a hard shove directly into Cindric. It caused Cindric to spin and 24 of the 40 cars in the field suffered some sort of damage in the melee.

Even Stenhouse had a chunk of sheet metal missing from the driver side door area when he drove his car into victory lane.

The race was red-flagged for nearly nine minutes of cleanup, and 22 cars remained on the lead lap for the two-lap overtime sprint to the finish. Many of those 22 cars were damaged.

Keselowski finished second in a Ford for RFK Racing and was followed by Byron in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Byron is the points leader headed into Charlotte and his cushion is large enough to earn him an automatic spot into the round of eight.

Kyle Larson of Hendrick was fourth and followed by Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Club in a Toyota. Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing was sixth in a Toyota and followed by Justin Haley of Spire Motorsports. Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing finished eighth, Bubba Wallace was ninth with 23XI Racing co-owner Michael Jordan in attendance, and Denny Hamlin, the other co-owner of the team, rounded out the top 10.

Only four drivers still active in the playoffs finished inside the top 10.

Ryan Blaney, who used his win at Talladega a year ago to spark his run to his first Cup Series title, was involved in a crash racing for points on the final lap of the second stage.

Blaney was pushed too hard from behind by fellow playoff driver Alex Bowman and the shove forced Blaney’s Ford to take a sharp left and then bounce up the track into the wall and Ross Chastain.

Blaney tried to keep his battered car out on track but the engine eventually failed, ending his race. He was second in the playoff standings entering the race and feared his career-high seventh DNF of the season would drop him to the verge of elimination.

“I don’t know if (Bowman) ever lifted and just drilled me from like three car lengths back. The worst possible spot you could do it, so it’s pretty dumb on his part and it figures that he gets away scot-free per usual,” Blaney said.

And as for his chances to advance in the playoffs?

“We’ll just see where we are at the end of the race on points and go from there.”

Because so many drivers wrecked late, Blaney only dropped to sixth in the playoff standings.

Daniel Suarez was already trying to work his way above the elimination zone when his race was derailed as it started.

NASCAR penalized Trackhouse Racing for making a modification to the No. 99 after inspection so Suarez had to serve a pass-thru penalty at the start of the race that dropped him off the lead lap. When the pack came upon him to put him a second lap down on lap 11, Suarez tried to preserve position and ended up running into another car.

It caused him to spin into the grass and the Chevrolet had to pit for repairs. He tried the entire race to get back on the lead lap, couldn't make it, and then was one of the drivers in the late crash.

He finished 26th, somehow, and gained one spot in the standings to 10th. Suarez is only 20 points below the elimination cutline.

The playoff field will be cut from 12 drivers to eight when four are eliminated next Sunday at The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. AJ Allmendinger won the race a year ago.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s car shows damage from a wreck in the last few laps of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. celebrates in Victory Lane after a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Crew members for driver Austin Cindric change tires during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Driver Chris Buescher (17) leads a pack of cars to the end of Stage One during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Drivers race down the front stretch three wide during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Driver Michael McDowell (34) leads the pack to the start of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Drivers race down the front stretch four wide during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. talks with his wife and son on the phone as he celebrates in Victory Lane after a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. celebrates in Victory Lane after a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

Driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. celebrates in Victory Lane after a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)