Ionescu Leads Liberty Past Dream

NEW YORK -- The Liberty have been focused on winning the first championship after falling just short last year.

They moved one step closer as Sabrina Ionescu tied a franchise playoff record with 36 points to help the Liberty beat the Atlanta Dream 91-82 on Tuesday night and advance to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs.

Jonquel Jones added 20 points and 13 rebounds for the top-seeded Liberty, who swept the best-of-three series and will face Las Vegas in the next round that begins Sunday in New York. The Aces beat the Liberty in the WNBA Finals last season.

The Liberty took a one-point lead into the fourth quarter, and the teams went back and forth before a layup by New York's Courtney Vandersloot made it 75-72 with 5:41 left and started a 12-2 run. New York's Breanna Stewart followed later in the spurt by swooping in for a tip-in.

Leonie Fiebich, who scored 21 points in the opening game, then had a three-point play to extend the advantage to 82-74 with 4:11 left. She hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to give New York a double-digit advantage for the first time in the game.

The Liberty snapped an 11-game playoff losing streak in scenarios where they trailed by five or more points at halftime. It's their first such win since the 2008 playoffs.