The New York Liberty have taken full control of their semifinal series against the defending champions Las Vegas Aces, winning Game 2 88-84. As the Liberty are one step closer to sweeping the team that beat them in the WNBA Finals last season, star Breanna Stewart celebrated the hard-fought win with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

You can see Stewart moving to embrace Kaepernick after the game, via this video shared by ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter.

Will the Liberty bring out the brooms?

New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) talks with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick after defeating Las Vegas Aces 88-84 in game two of the 2024 WNBA Semi-finals at Barclays Center.
© Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Putting aside Breanna Stewart's moment with Colin Kaepernick, the Aces' quest for a three-peat is fully in jeopardy, fittingly at the hands of the team they beat for the championship last season. Moreover, similar to the NBA, no WNBA team in league history has come back from 0-2 to win a playoff series.

Only the Phoenix Mercury have forced a deciding Game 5 after falling 0-2 to the Seattle Storm in 2018, though they ultimately lost the series. Meanwhile, only the Cleveland Cavaliers have come back to win a series down 3-1 in 2016.

In the victory, Sabrina Ionescu paced her team with 24 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. After the game, she kept her focus on the next win while talking to the media.

“Being up 2-0 is great. We haven't won anything. We did what we were supposed to. This isn't what we came to do,” Ionescu said, via a report from Scooby Axson for USA Today. “We are a hungry group, we battled. They came out swinging. We got big stops when we needed to.”

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The dynamic guard also continued, “We don't take them lightly, and we grinded out a good win.”

After her 34-point outburst in Game 1, Stewart chipped in with 15 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds in Game 2. Meanwhile, Jonquel Jones put in 14 points while Courtney Vandersloot poured in 12 points off the pine.

No sweeps

Three-time MVP A'ja Wilson had 24 points, seven rebounds, and four assists for the Aces. The team had five players in double figures, but the Aces' defensive issues put them on their heels early, giving the Liberty the momentum for most of the game.

“We have neither won nor lost a championship. Nothing has been won tonight. Let there be no doubt, we're in for a war,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said, per this post from Alexa Philippou of ESPN.

Of course, teams should never underestimate the heart of a champion, and the Liberty shouldn't expect the Aces to lay down and accept defeat. They will have to take the series through another outstanding team effort and assert that it's time for the Liberty to win their first WNBA championship.