Las Vegas Aces beat New York Liberty In Game 4 on Wednesday night to become the first consecutive WNBA champions in 21 years.
“It’s not easy, as you know. This is what it’s all about,” Wilson said. “Not a lot of people get to do it. To be short-handed and win is amazing. It makes the win that much better. It’s hard to get back to the Finals to win again.”
Wilson was the star of the night, as she got 24 points and 16 rebounds, alongside a defensive stop in the final seconds of the match to secure a 70-69 win.
The Aces joined the Los Angeles Sparks (2001-02) and the Houston Comets (1997-2000) as the only teams in league history to win consecutive titles.
Las Vegas were without their stars Chelsea Gray and Kiah Stokes who were both sidelined with foot injuries suffered in Game 3.
Las Vegas was also still missing veteran Candace Parker, who had foot surgery in late July.
“We’ve been facing adversity all season, playing without different players. … We have some professional fighters,” said Alysha Clark, who was added to the starting lineup Wednesday
“To weather the storm of everything we went through, to show up every single day. To be in this moment right now and do it together, speaks volumes about us, our chemistry.”
With the game tied at 64, Las Vegas scored six straight points, including the first four by Jackie Young, to go ahead 70-64 with 1:26 left.
“It’s a play we’ve run before, get the ball to Stewie’s hand,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. We got it where we wanted to, but didn’t make it.”
Vandersloot finished with 19 points and Betnijah Laney added 15 for New York.
New York’s record fell to 2-10 all-time in the WNBA Finals.
