The Las Vegas Aces mounted a second-half comeback to beat the New York Liberty 70-69 and win a second successive WNBA title.
The New York Liberty led 39-30 heading into the third quarter, but the Aces hit back with help from A’ja Wilson.
The power forward put on 24 points and 16 rebounds to wrap up a 3-1 series win.
“To be up here – this one was special because so many people counted us out,” Wilson said.
“We fought through so much adversity during the season. We cried together, prayed together, and now we popping champagne together.”
Wilson’s sixth double-double of the postseason saw her named as the WNBA Finals’ Most Valuable Player.
New York, appearing in their first Finals campaign since 2002 and chasing a maiden title, set the tempo from the outset with guard Courtney Vandersloot scoring a team-high 19 points, however, an error-strewn second half saw their hopes slip away.
Sabrina Ionescu put New York within a point with just seconds remaining but they were unable to clinch victory.
“Credit to Vegas, they were down, they found a way,” New York coach Sandy Brondello said
“We fought but it wasn’t our best game today.”
