LAS VEGAS >> Sabrina Ionescu didn’t take long to make a quick statement that what transpired not even 48 hours earlier would not happen again.

But she and her Liberty teammates had an even larger message to deliver.

Ionescu rebounded from a rare off game to score 22 points, and nearly a year after the Aces ended the Liberty’s dream of a championship, New York returned the favor Sunday afternoon by defeating Las Vegas 76-62 to advance to the WNBA Finals.

The top-seeded Liberty will have home-court advantage in the championship series and will face either the Connecticut Sun or Minnesota Lynx, who will play Game 5 on Tuesday. This is the Liberty’s sixth trip to the finals, but the franchise is still seeking its first title.

“We haven’t done anything yet,” said New York’s Breanna Stewart, who had 19 points and 14 rebounds. “This was a tough series, an emotional series for a number of different reasons. But we’re going to the finals and we’re hosting Game 1 and Game 2.”

New York lost in four games to the shorthanded Aces on Oct. 18, 2023, and turned the painful defeat into a mission.

Ionescu said the Aces “made us a better team,” and she made it clear she respects how difficult it was for Las Vegas to win back-to-back titles. But, no doubt, the Aces fueled New York’s drive by how they celebrated after last season, with coach Becky Hammon even taking a shot during the victory parade at Stewart going 3 for 17 in the final game.

“We talked our crap, they heard and they get to talk their crap,” Hammon said Sunday. “It’s part of the game. It’s not personal. I can talk crap all I want.”