Sabrina Ionescu paused for a second and checked her feet to make sure she was behind the 3-point line. She took a breath then fired, draining a 3 to stretch the New York Liberty lead to 11 points. As she frolicked backward with just over seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter,

The Liberty scored the first five points of the third quarter and the lead ballooned to 62-44 on a 3-pointer by Stewart. After a timeout, the Aces scored the next 12 points to get within six. Courtney Vandersloot finally ended the drought for New York with a layup that sparked a run to restore a nine-point advantage at the end of the third.

Breanna Stewart was on a mission in the New York Liberty’s 87-77 win over the Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of their WNBA semifinals series on Sunday. After leading the Liberty with 20 first-half points, Stewart made a bold promise to fans at Barclays Center, telling them she has “a lot to make up for” following last year’s postseason disappointment.