The New York Liberty finally hoisted their first piece of equipment in the team’s 26-year history.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Marine Johannes scored 17 points with five 3-pointers, Jonquel Jones 16 points and 15 rebounds and the New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces. 82-63 Tuesday night to win the third WNBA Commissioners Cup championship.
New York handed Las Vegas its first home loss of the season – in 16 games – after holding the Aces below 65 points for the second time in nine days.
New York closed the third quarter on a 15-5 run to take a 56-48 lead – capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Kayla Thornton. Sabrina Ionescu added consecutive 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter to make it 66-52.
The Liberty finished 15 of 35 on 3-pointers, while the Aces made just 5 of 26. New York also limited A’ja Wilson, the Aces’ leading scorer at 21.2 points per game, to just nine points – all in the first. half.
Breanna Stewart scored 13 points, Ionescu added 12 and Courtney Vandersloot had 11 points and 10 assists for New York. Jones was named MVP of the championship game after recording her 11th double-double of the season. Thornton finished with eight points to help the Liberty have a 28-8 advantage in bench points.
Real teamwork ????
THE @nyliberty celebrate their first Cup championship‼#Commissioners Cup Championship match presented by @coinbase pic.twitter.com/E9CVjp8fAg
–WNBA (@WNBA) August 16, 2023
Jackie Young scored 16 points and Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum each added 15 points for Las Vegas. The Aces shot just 33 percent from the field and were overwhelmed 49-28.
The game started slowly as each team missed its first seven field goals until Stewart put New York ahead 3-2 with 6:12 left in the first quarter. Las Vegas made only one of its first 16 field goals, including 0 of 8 from distance.
New York led 32-23 with 3:57 left before halftime, but did not score again as Las Vegas scored the final 11 points for a 34-32 lead at the break. Gray tied it at 32 with 41.1 seconds left after converting a three-point play and Young added a quick layup. Gray had 11 points at the break. The Aces shot just 30 percent from the field in the first half, including 2 of 15 from 3-point range.
The season’s tournament saw New York and Las Vegas finish among the top teams in the Eastern and Western conferences. Each Liberty member will receive approximately $30,000. Players on Aces each receive around $10,000.
The Aces (27-3) and Liberty (24-6) are also 1-2 in the WNBA regular season standings and have secured playoff berths. The two teams meet Thursday in a regular season game. New York has won six straight regular season games.
The first-place Aces won both the Commissioner’s Cup and the WNBA title last season.
