Liberty suffer ugly loss against defending champion Las Vegas Aces

The Liberty’s four-game winning streak came to an end after suffering an ugly 98-81 defeat to the Las Vegas Aces.

The Aces extended their win streak to seven games and showed why they’re sitting above the competition in the WNBA.

The Liberty were overwhelmed for most of the night as they committed mistakes that led to quick buckets for the home team. The Aces hovered around 60% shooting the whole game and ended shooting 58% from the field after the final buzzer.

Kelsey Plum led the way with 18 points and the rest of Aces had no trouble scoring. The Aces began the game hunting Sabrina Ionescu on the offensive end, which yielded to easy buckets by All-Stars Chelsea Gray and Plum. Gray finished with 14 points and six assists

Ionescu spoke pregame about the importance of her defense.

“I really worked on it a lot this offseason,” Ionescu said. “Just continuing to get quicker. Obviously, being healthy helps just being able to be on the floor. Obviously I still have a long way to go … I’m still not where I want to be defensively but I devote myself to trying to be the best and learn from those around me.”

The Liberty went into halftime down just seven, but New York’s lack of cohesion and sheer dominance by the defending champs on both ends of the floor led to a blowout.

The defending champs got quick and easy buckets. The Liberty scored just 14 points in the third quarter mainly due to the Aces’ defense forcing Sandy Brondello’s team into unproductive offensive positions. The missed baskets allowed the home team to push pace and not allow the Liberty to set their defense.

And that’s where the defending champs shine.

Jackie Young, Candace Parker, Plum and Gray all finished with at least five assists due to the heightened pace. The off-ball movement killed the Liberty all night long and allowed Gray to pick apart ball-watching defenders.

The first game between the league’s highly-advertised superteams finished with just one looking the part. The whole Liberty starting lineup recorded negative plus-minus on the stat sheet. Breanna Stewart shot 6-of-15 from the field and finished with 16 points.

Center Jonquel Jones had 13 points and six rebounds. Marine Johannes scored 10 points off the bench and shot 4-of-7 from the field.

The Aces’ starting lineup finished with double-digit points. Candace Parker had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. A’ja Wilson finished with 16 points and three rebounds. Guard Jackie Young had 15 points, six assists and five rebounds.