Stewart Torches Las Vegas With 34 Points

Photo: Special to the NY Beacon

By Samori Benjamin

The New York Liberty got an impressive 87-77 win in at Barclay Center in Brooklyn over the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces on Sunday afternoon in Game One of the WNBA Semifinals. The series marks a rematch of last year’s WNBA Finals. “We knew we wanted to play with a sense of urgency and protect homecourt,” Liberty Head Coach Sandy Brondello said after the win.

2023 WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart scored a game high 34 points for the Liberty and guard Sabrina Ionescu added 21 points. “Personally, I just wanted to come out and set the tone, be aggressive, really kind of take what the defense was giving me,” Breanna Stewart said after the game. “They were switching a little bit, sometimes they weren’t switching, so I was able to get downhill, get in the post, and be confident when I’m shooting behind the three.”

For the Aces, 2024 league MVP Asia Wilson finished with 21 points which is several below her season average. “Asia is obviously a key player for them,” Coach Brondello said. “She still ended up with 21 but overall we did a good job on her, you know she had to work for the points that she got.”

Game 2 took place Tuesday night. Games 3 and 4 will be played in Las Vegas Friday and Sunday. If there is a game 5, it will take place at Barclays Center Tuesday October 8th.

Sports Editor Andrew Rosario contributed to this article.