New York Liberty Season Ends in WNBA Finals Heartbreak

The New York Liberty failed to take advantage of an undermanned Las Vegas Aces group and saw their WNBA championship dream fall just short.

NEW YORK-The New York Liberty's championship bid rolled snake eyes against the Las Vegas Aces. 

A'ja Wilson made a new kind of MVP case in a 70-69 victory in Game 4 of the 2023 WNBA Finals, one that saw her earn a 24-point, 16-rebound double-double with fellow starters Chelsea Gray and Kiah Stokes forced to the bench due to injuries. With the win, Las Vegas earned its third victory in the best-of-five set, becoming the first back-to-back WNBA champion since the 2001-02 Los Angeles Sparks.

The Liberty, one of the three WNBA teams still left over from its 1997 debut year, once again end a season looking for the first postseason championship in franchise history. At five, they have the most appearances in the championship series without prevailing.

For her singular efforts, Wilson, denied the regular season MVP, used Wednesday's showcase to make an undeniable bid for the Finals edition. Her exclusively defensive rebound total set a WNBA Finals single-game record, breaking a tally that Stewart previously set against the Aces in the 2020 championship round.

Courtney Vandersloot led the way for New York with 19 points and Betnijah Laney had 15 more. Stewart struggled to the tune of a 3-of-17 output from the field despite pulling in 14 rebounds. The Liberty led 23-13 at the end of the first period as Vegas figured out its new lineup of reserves but were unable to expand upon. Las Vegas took control for good with a 23-12 advantage of its own in the third period, going up by as many as seven in the final frame of the defensive struggle.

New York had one final chance to extend the affairs after a defensive stop in the dying seconds. They got the ball to Stewart, who was immediately blanked by double Aces. A dish to Vandersloot led to a final jumper that fell short and by the time it made it to Jonquel Jones' hands, time expired on both the game and the Liberty season.