It seemed like the New York Liberty found an answer to almost everything it’s been struggling with in recent games against the Las Vegas Aces, and it paid off in an 87-78 win on Tuesday night.
The Liberty didn’t have any offensive rebounds in the first quarter but ended the game with nine, which was two more than the Aces, and had 34 total boards in the game. They were outscored in the second quarter, but only by five points, so there was no large deficit to come back from.
New York was moving the ball around and finished the night with 21 assists, while still protecting the rock. They were also aggressive on the defensive end and picked the ball 10 times, led by Kennedy Burke’s six steals.
“Even when we were winning early in the year, we weren’t rebounding well,” said head coach Sandy Brondello. “It’s more about just a little bit more urgency and effort to finish the plays. I think we’re getting much better, and it helps. We had to train ourselves that we all need to do it, and it’s been good for us, and we just got to stay consistent now.”
Another bright spot for the Liberty was Leonie Fiebich and Sabrina Ionescu. The two have been quiet recently, but were not on Tuesday.
Fiebich scored New York’s first points of the game and finished the night with 15. She went 6-of-11 from the field, including two triples, and led the team with nine rebounds.
Ionescu recorded her third straight 20-point game with 28. She went 1-of-9 from deep but found a groove inside the arc and made 9-of-10 free throws. The star guard also contributed eight rebounds, eight assists, and two steals.
New York had a 19-16 lead going into the second quarter and almost held onto it for the whole frame. Jackie Young drove into the paint and scored with just one second left to go into halftime with a 42-40 advantage.
Young led the way for Las Vegas with 19 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, and was one of five Aces that scored in double figures. The Liberty also had five players with at least 10 points.
“Everyone just had to kind of be there for one another, but just up the intensity,” Ionescu said. “And I’m really proud of the way we kind of stuck together. They went on runs. We went on runs, but in the end, we just continued to string together stops. And it paid off for us.”
The Liberty held A’ja Wilson scoreless until there were 4:13 left in the second quarter. Wilson was fouled by Fiebich while going up for a layup and fell hard on her right wrist. She stayed in the game to sink both free throws but didn’t return after that.
The Aces were in front in the third quarter until New York took a 56-54 lead with 3:57 left, thanks to a 7-0 run, which included five straight points from Breanna Stewart. Las Vegas’ Dana Evans, who had 16 points off the bench, made two free throws at the end of the quarter to trail just 62-60.
Ionescu went to snatch back the lead halfway through the final quarter but was fouled by Chelsea Gray while going up for a layup. However, Ionescu received a technical foul after hitting Gray in the face on the play, Gray made the free throw to take a 72-70.
Ionescu made both free throws, and the Liberty were energized by the foul call, as neither they nor the fans in Barclays Center agreed with it. They scored the next eight points after the free shots and denied any Aces field goal attempts the rest of the way.
Las Vegas scored six more points from the charity stripe, but it wasn’t enough to take the lead one last time as New York led 87-78 when the final buzzer sounded.
“I’m not sure that I even hit her, or even on purpose, but it’s alright, they called it. It is what it is,” Ionescu said. “I knew as soon as they called that, that they pissed me off and we were going to be able to go off. So honestly, it was probably a great technical that I got.”
