Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024 | 3:10 p.m.
The first game of the highly anticipated WNBA semifinal series between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty wasn’t much different than any of the other matchups between the teams this season.
The Aces fell to the Liberty for a fourth straight time, 87-77, on Sunday as New York takes a 1-0 lead in the series. It was the Liberty’s stars — Breanna Stewart (34 points) and Sabrina Ionescu (21 points) — who dominated throughout.
Aces coach Becky Hammon said that the team struggled against the Liberty’s length and they were committed to shutting down A’ja Wilson. The WNBA Most Valuable Player finished still finished with 21 points, but was -17 on the floor.
“Points in the paint, on the board, on the free throw line. They just kicked our butt in every area of the game,” Hammon said.
The Aces also got off to a slow start, never having a lead the entire game. At half time, Kelsey Plum told ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe that the Aces felt like they were “stuck in mud” trying to get things going. Plum found her game, finishing with a team-high 24 points, but isn’t focusing her attention on her individual performance.
“Respectfully, it’s a loss. That’s the only thing that I really see,” Plum said. “There’s a lot of things I think I can do better individually and also helping my teammates collectively, but to be honest, that’s the only statistic that matters, especially with this group. We have the we had the bounce back Tuesday.”
Las Vegas struggled against the Liberty’s defense, shooting just 47% (29-of-67) from the floor and 28% (7-of-25) from 3-point range. The Aces couldn’t defend the Liberty clean as well, sending New York to the line 23 times. It cleaned up from the charity stripe, shooting 19-of-23.
The Liberty held Chelsea Gray in check, as she finished with only four points and one assist. It’s Gray’s lowest point total since Sept. 8 when she had four point in a 75-71 loss to New York. Her assist total was the lowest since June 21 when she had one assist in a 85-74 win over Connecticut which was her second game back from returning from injury she sustained in the 2023 WNBA Finals.
“The best way is just keep the movement and keep the ball moving and let the ball naturally find who they’re (New York) cheating off of,” Hammon said. “It’s kind of everybody at different times.”
The Liberty’s Jonquel Jones added 13 points and 12 rebounds. They shot 50% (30-of-60) from the floor and out-rebounded the Aces, 31-22.
This is the first time that the Aces have been down in a series since 2022 when they lost Game 1 of their semifinals series against the Seattle Storm. The Aces won three straight games to win the series and went on to win their first WNBA Championship.
Game 2 against the Liberty is on Tuesday. Tip-off time is TBD.
“It’s do or die,” Hammon said. “You have to win a game two. I don’t think there’s any other way around it. We were in this position with Seattle my first year, except for we were the home team and then we had to come back and beat them. We’ve had our backs against the wall before.”