The Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson (22) is feeling pretty positive in first half action of game 1 of the WNBA Championship at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas on Sun Oct 8, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Aces Jackie Young led the charge with 26 points giving Las Vegas a game one win 99-82 in the opening game of this championship series at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.

Sunday afternoon the Las Vegas Aces (1-0) embarked on the first leg of their quest for a second championship. They took on the New York Liberty (0-1) in what promises to be a fight to the end.

As expected both teams came out strong in the first quarter with the Liberty narrowly taking the early lead 25-22. The second quarter was all knotted at 24-24. New York took a 49-46 lead into the locker room at the half.

All season, the Aces have notoriously been a second half team especially in the fourth quarter when they have time after time put games away. They would need a strong second half if they wanted to get past New York.

One reason that the Liberty had this lead was due to the deep shooting from bench player Marine Johannes who was 4 of 7 from beyond the arc and finished with 14 points.

The Aces turned it on the third quarter winning it 26-16 and taking a 72-65 lead proving their mastery in the second half of games. They did not back down as this game went into the fourth quarter playing with more intention and skill.

Going on a 9-0 run the Aces took the first double digit lead of the game 78-65 with 7:21 left in the game. Las Vegas’ Jackie Young was on fire already shooting for 26 points with nearly seven minutes left in the game.

The Aces had begun to take control of this first game of the finals. Las Vegas had a strangle hold on the Liberty forcing turnovers and desperate shot selection. The Aces continued to extend their lead in the final minutes of the game taking a 92-72 lead.

The Liberty were faced with having to speed up the game if they were to have any chance of winning leaving the door open for error. In all fairness, the Liberty continued to fight making some clutch three’s but as they began to put the starters on the bench they were clearly resigned to the eventual outcome. The Las Vegas ladies were brilliant in this second half winning game one by the score of 99-82.

The heartbeat of Las Vegas Chelsea Gray was seen throughout the game cheering, pushing and encouraging her team. She had 20 points along with Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young’s 26 points apiece.

Plum was totally exploited in the past few season games against the Liberty and she evidently had had enough and it really showed in this game. In the second half, the Aces defense on the outside really showed up limiting New York to a single shot from downtown.

A’Ja Wilson finished with 8 rebounds and 19 points. It took the opening half for the Aces to really get on track and once the second half hit, Las Vegas turned into a run-away train impossible to stop. They shot at 54% from the field and 40% from outside.

The Liberty had four starters in double digits with Breanna Steward the high score with 21 points and nine rebounds. New York may have lost the first game of this series but the battle has just begun and there is a long way yet to go.

Aces post game notes: These teams know each other so well and both teams have had success against each other during the regular season. Back in late June the Aces had a dominate win over the Liberty 98-81.

The Liberty crushed Las Vegas on August 6, 99-61 followed by a second win on August 15 by the score of 82-63. Two days later the Aces came back beating the Liberty 88-75. In this see-saw relationship the Liberty had yet another win over the Aces 94-85 in late August, the final time they would meet prior to the playoffs.

This finals has all the makings of some hard-fought battles from the two best teams in the WNBA.

Game Two will be played on Wednesday October 11th with tipoff scheduled for 6:00 PM. This second game of the series will again be played at Michelob ULTRA Arena with the Aces looking to take a 2-0 lead into New York.