It’s playoff season in the WNBA, and based on the first round, it will be a fun next couple of weeks as the playoffs continue. Many surprises arose during the first round, and more will surely come.
The New York Liberty have reached the semi-finals for the first time since 2015. They swept the Washington Mystic 2-0. Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu lead the Liberty in the second game. Natasha Cloud of the Mystics gave this series her all and was very confident that her team would pull through to the semi-finals. The second game went into overtime and unfortunately fell short to the Liberty.
The Liberty will face the Connecticut Sun in the first round. They have shown they have the skill set to make it to the finals, however, the Sun’s defense may be challenging for them to get around. From the postseason predictions, the Liberty is the fan favorite to win the overall. However in game 1, the Sun’s would dispatch the Liberty defeating them 76-63 thanks to a strong team effort.
The Las Vegas Aces are moving on as well to the semi-finals, set to face the Dallas Wings. The Aces sweeped the Chicago Sky 2-0. The Aces look to be head back-to-back champions and they would be the first team to do so since the Los Angeles Sparkes won in 2001 and 2002. The Aces were the first team to clinch the playoffs and have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. In the first game against the Dallas Wings, they would defeat them 97-83 thanks to a 34 point outing from power forward A’ja Wilson.
After defeating the Minnesota Lynx, the Connecticut Sun will be heading into the semi-finals to take on the New York Liberty. The Sun won the series 2-1. This series was the only series not to be swept out of the first round. The Sun looks to face former star Jonquel Jones who was the WNBA MVP in 2021 and made four all-star appearances as a part of the Suns. Jones was traded to the Liberty during the 2023 off-season. The Sun lost to the Liberty in all four games this season and will look to beat them in the best of five this upcoming series.
The Dallas Wings are the last team to make it to the semi-finals, and they are to face the Aces. The Wings swept the Atlanta Dream 2-0. The Wings made the semi-finals for the first time in franchise history since 2009. Satou Sabally, this past offseason, told coach Trammel that she wanted the 2023 season to be her season. Sabally was named the WNBA’s most-improved player on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. The Wings will travel to Las Vegas for game one.
The second round will kick off on Sept. 24, 2023. New York and Las Vegas entered the season with very high expectations and the designated super teams. However, the Dallas Wings and the Connecticut Sun were the runners-up after the Liberty and the Aces. It will be interesting to watch the second round.
