Las Vegas, NV—-The Las Vegas Aces beat the New York Liberty 104-76 in Game 2 to take a 2-0 series lead in the 2023 WNBA Finals. They’re one win away from becoming the first team since the 2003 Los Angeles Sparks to repeat as WNBA champions. The Liberty put a scare into the Aces in the second quarter, but from halftime onward, there was no shred of doubt that the Aces would be going up 2-0.
The Aces started rolling from the opening tip, notching another WNBA Finals rout with a wire-to-wire 104-76 win over the Liberty in Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series at a sold-out Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. The Aces will try to close out the series and win their second straight championship, the first back-to-back titles in the WNBA since 2001-02, on Sunday in New York. No team in WNBA history has ever rallied from an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-five series.
“You see the growth from our guards: We’re patient,” Chelsea Gray said. “If we get into the paint and nothing is there, we kick it back out and go to the second action. We’ve taken things a level up.”
The Aces scored a Finals-record 38 points in the first quarter on 70% field-goal shooting (14-of-20) and 6-of-10 from beyond the 3-point arc. A’ja Wilson scored 12 points in the first quarter and finished with a double-double of 26 points and 15 rebounds. The Aces starters tallied 95 points, and center Kiah Stokes, who did not score in Game 1, knocked down two 3-pointers. Jackie Young followed up her standout play from Game 1 with a 24-point performance in Game 2. Kelsey Plum added 23 points, including five 3-pointers.
The Aces are looking to close out the series as it goes to New York for Game 3 on Sunday.
