Competitive has been the WNBA’s middle name this season. With new players coming up in the 2022 draft, new talent brewing in the league as the stakes get higher, and two WNBA legends announcing their retirement, this season’s playoffs had a lot to offer. The two-time league MVP, A’ja Wilson, led her first seed Las Vegas Aces through a sweeping two game victory against Dianna Turassi’s eight seed Phoenix Mercury.
The ferocity grew in the second round, however, as the Aces were then set to play soon-to-be retired Sue Bird’s fourth seed Seattle Storm in a best of five series. The Storm, led by Bird’s former teammate, 37-year-old Noelle Quinn, faced challenges with player availability in the beginning of the season but proved a ruthless foe in the playoffs.
After taking the first game by just three points, Seattle set themselves up on the right foot. Hopes were high for Bird’s final season to end with a championship, but Vegas found their spark in guard Chelsea Grey who scored a combined twelve 3-point shots in the next three games, according to ESPN's box scores, effectively punching a ticket to the finals with a 3-1 series victory.
Aces head coach Becky Hammond then set her sights on the third seed Connecticut Sun who beat the defending champions, Candice Parker’s Chicago Sky. In true Aces fashion, the team came into the finals playing with such aggression, the Sun couldn’t keep up.
Although gaining the lead periodically, Connecticut lost the first two games of the series, their backs now against the wall. But the Sun had Jonquel Jones who scored 20 points in Game 3, according to ESPN, helping her team hold out a 105-76 win against Vegas.
“One more time,” A’ja Wilson said to her Aces team after their second finals win.
The 26-year-old is no veteran, but she is often seen leading her team from a coaching and court standpoint. And boy, was she on the court. The fourth game saw a full 40 minutes of A’ja Wilson as the two teams battled for the ultimate title, now in Uncasville, CT. Both sides were well-matched which made for an extremely physical game.
After taking a small but crucial lead with two minutes to spare in the fourth quarter, The Sun might have thought a Game 5 was in their future. But that was before Riquna Williams scored 3 3-pointers in a row and, really, maybe the Aces always had it in them. It was close - just 78-71 - but The Aces victory was well deserved.
The team celebrated their first championship in true Las Vegas fashion with a ticker tape parade through the city. “I was never even worried about a thing,” Wilson laughed while acknowledging her teammates and before hugging her dad.
The playoffs this year felt competitive from the edge of my seat, but it's only right that Aces dominated it all.