New York Liberty top Las Vegas Aces, advance to WNBA Finals - ESPN

LAS VEGAS — All season long, the Las Vegas Aces haven't shied away from acknowledging the difficulties of three-peating. Following a rocky regular season and with a tough semifinal matchup against the top-seeded New York Liberty, the No. 4 Aces faced a greater uphill battle than ever as they tried to return to the mountaintop.

But Las Vegas finally ran out of gas Sunday, its quest for history falling short when it dropped Game 4 to the Liberty 76-62 and lost the best-of-five series 3-1.

New York, making its own push for history in hopes of a franchise-first title, will appear in the WNBA Finals for the sixth time and second straight. Its opponent will be determined Tuesday when Minnesota and Connecticut duke it out in the other semifinal in a winner-take-all Game 5 in Minneapolis.

The Liberty — who fell short of a championship last year at the hands of Las Vegas — beat the Aces in six of their seven matchups this year, including all three in the regular season.

«They've been the best team all year — let's be real,» Aces coach Becky Hammon said after the game. «Their group earned it. They earned it all year.»

Yet two-time MVP Breanna Stewart stayed resolute: «We haven't done anything yet,» said Stewart, who finished 19 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks. «This was a tough series, an emotional series, for a number of different reasons… [but there's] just the feeling of not satisfied.»

Only once in the WNBA has there been a three-peat, when the Houston Comets dominated the early years of the sport from 1997 to 2000. This millennium, only the New York Yankees (1998-2000) and Los Angeles Lakers (2000-02) managed to do it in their respective leagues. No team has achieved the feat in that span in the NHL or NFL.

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