There is life for the Liberty, after all.
Following an embarrassing Game 2 loss to put their season on the brink, New York stayed alive with an 87-73 victory over the Las Vegas Aces in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals at Barclays Center on Sunday afternoon. It was the franchise’s first WNBA Finals win since Sept. 4, 1999.
The Liberty used a stifling third quarter to build an advantage that was just large enough to hold on to. It outscored the Aces 18-10 in the frame which included a 14-4 run to build a lead as large as 14.
From allowing 104 points to drop into a 2-0 series hole, the Liberty’s defense stifled the Aces, holding the reigning league champions to just 33.3% shooting from the field while forcing 11 turnovers.
Liberty star forward Jonquel Jones went off for 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including an impressive 4-of-7 showing from the three-point range. Breanna Stewart had her most efficient game of the Finals, dropping 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting while Sabrina Ionescu put up 11 assists with nine points.
“We took it personal,” Jones said. “We watched the film and the film doesn’t lie. We took it personal. We came out here and we played with heart.”
Energized from the desperation of its season hanging in the balance and the energy from Barclays Center, the Liberty utilized an 11-2 run in the latter portions of the first quarter to take its largest lead of the WNBA Finals at nine, 21-12.
Las Vegas responded with a 9-0 run to tie it early in the second quarter entirely through a flourish from Kelsey Plum, who scored 28 points in the loss, but New York did well to stay with them.
An immediate 7-0 run gave them a bit of a cushion to work with, but they were unable to pull away despite Jones dropping 10 of her 18 first-half points. A one-footed fallaway jumper with 1:58 to go in the half had the Liberty up seven, but four straight points from Chelsea Gray drew Las Vegas to within three.
Plum had a golden chance to knot things up going…
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