LAS VEGAS — The New York Liberty are one of the WNBA’s original franchises dating back to 1997 and have played for the league title four times. But they had never won a championship — until Tuesday.
And even if it was an in-season title, it meant a lot to the Liberty to win the Commissioner’s Cup trophy after an 82-63 win over the Las Vegas Aces.
The Liberty talked before the game about the importance of finally winning some hardware for the franchise, and now they have. Plus, as the Cup championship team, the players each earned $30,000. They also now have defeated the defending WNBA champions twice this season, handing the Aces their first loss at home in 2023.
Tuesday night’s game didn’t count in the standings, though; the Aces are still 27-3 atop the league and the Liberty second at 24-6. But New York sent a message, following its 99-61 victory over Las Vegas in Brooklyn earlier this month with another win in which they put the Aces’ league-best offense (94 PPG) in the deep freeze while outdoing them 15-5 in 3-pointers.
Jonquel Jones, in her first…
