UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Bottle in hand, A’ja Wilson waded through a shallow pool of champagne that had gathered on the floor of the visitors’ locker room and headed out the door to her postgame news conference. Kelsey Plum was in the middle of the room with a speaker on her shoulder and followed Wilson out.
Aces cash in with their first WNBA title, topping the Sun in four games
Wilson walked down a hallway flanked by well-wishers with Plum just steps behind, “Scared money don’t make no money” blaring from the speaker, acting like the entourage for a boxer heading to the ring. But there was a pause for a bottle opener — because Wilson and teammate Chelsea Gray definitely were taking their champagne to the stage.
After all, the Aces were champions at last following a 78-71 victory over the Connecticut Sun in Sunday’s Game 4 of the WNBA Finals that gave Las Vegas its first professional sports title.
“Vegas, you have to take four shots,” Wilson said of the parade coming Tuesday to celebrate the franchise’s first title. “Children, take shots of ginger ale. But you have to take four shots before you pull up to the parade. And drink responsibly. . . . The Bellagio fountains, we’re skiing across that thing. We’re going crazy because I don’t think people understand how important this really is. This is huge. So, Vegas, turn up.”
Added Plum: “Honestly, I don’t know [if it’s hit me]. I think it’ll hit me throughout the day. The alcohol’s hitting me — I’ll tell you that!”
Wilson found her parents on the court after the win and had a quiet moment as she embraced them. She now has an NCAA title (and a statue at South Carolina), a WNBA championship and an Olympic gold medal — at 26.
“My parents have sacrificed so, so much for me to be where I am today,” said Wilson, who had 11 points and 14 rebounds. “And for me to celebrate this moment with them, it’s amazing. We were just sitting around joking in the hotel room. My mom was like, ‘I’m not going to have no job when I get back because I been here.’ She hasn’t been to work since I don’t know when. … They have sacrificed so much for me to be here, and I’m so glad I can share that moment with them.”
Wilson and Connecticut’s Jonquel Jones are WNBA MVPs, but Sunday’s most timely difference-maker turned out to be Riquna Williams, who single-handedly accounted for an 8-2 Aces run by burying a pair of three-pointers before hitting a step-back jumper for a 75-71 lead with 53.2 seconds to go. After the third basket, she turned upcourt and sprinted with her arms out like an airplane. The Sun did not score again.
Gray was named Finals MVP after notching a game-high 20 points. She wiped away tears at center court afterward, remembering how she was denied a spot on the all-star team. Plum finished with 15 points, and Jackie Young added 13. The Aces, led by first-year coach Becky Hammon, became the second team in WNBA history to have multiple players — Wilson and Gray — score more than 200 points in a postseason.
The teams went back and forth throughout, with neither leading by more than 10 points. The Aces stretched their lead to six before Plum was called for a flagrant foul after she did not allow DeWanna Bonner to land on a three-point attempt with 3:46 remaining. Bonner made all three free throws, and the Sun got the ball back; Jones buried a baseline fadeaway that sent the crowd of 9,652 into a frenzy as the Aces’ lead was cut to 67-66. A Courtney Williams free throw with 3:02 left tied it at 67 before Riquna Williams took over.
The Sun’s Alyssa Thomas recorded a triple-double for the second consecutive game with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Courtney Williams finished with 17 points, and Jones had 13.
“Nobody expected us to be here,” Thomas said. “… Unfortunately, it didn’t go the way we wanted it to. We had fun. We played our basketball, and we stuck together all year.”
Both coaches expected a physical game, and the first half played out that way. Defenders swarmed on both ends, and it got chippy in the second quarter when Plum fouled Natisha Hiedeman and the Sun guard responded with a shove of the All-Star Game MVP. Plum laughed and clapped her hands as she stared down Hiedeman. Both were assessed technical fouls.
The Aces led 30-28 at halftime following the lowest-scoring half of the series. Las Vegas had grabbed a 16-6 lead in the first quarter but was unable to extend it. Jones led Connecticut’s comeback effort in the second quarter with a ferocious sequence. She converted a three-point play, blocked Wilson twice and crossed over a defender before hitting a step-back three-pointer to cap a 13-5 run.
The Aces found a way to respond in the second half, and now they’re champions.
“First thing that you have to do in building a championship culture is to set a tone of accountability,” Hammon said. “Bringing people together for a common goal that’s bigger than themselves, and then you’ve got to get the buy-in factor. My buy-in factor on each one of these women has been high, and I think they respond to me well.”
“When I was in San Antonio … we were winning eight games a year,” Plum said. “And to be able to get to this point just speaks to the people. This doesn’t happen in a year. This was built over time.”
Outside the locker room, Aces owner Mark Davis contemplated his decision to buy the franchise, move it from San Antonio to Las Vegas and hire Hammon.
“I’m just so proud of these women,” said Davis, who also owns the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders. “Throughout the year, they’ve gone through ups and downs, and then in the playoffs it got pretty tough here. It’s not easy to win on the road, but it’s also not easy to win a championship. … I can’t wait to see what these rings are going to look like.”
Source: WP
