Sabrina Ionescu dropped 26 points and Breanna Stewart added 25 as the New York Liberty defeated the Las Vegas Aces 93-85 to claim their second WNBA Commissioner's Cup title Tuesday night. The victory came without A'ja Wilson, the four-time MVP who sat out with a right ankle injury sustained Sunday against Chicago. Ionescu's hot start helped build a 51-37 halftime lead, setting a championship game record for first-half points.

Jackie Young kept Las Vegas alive with 25 second-half points, including 10 in the third quarter's final 6.5 minutes. The Aces took a 71-69 lead early in the fourth before New York's decisive 15-2 run. Pauline Astier's three-pointer ignited the burst, and Ionescu capped it with a deep ball to make it 84-73. Young's late three cut the deficit to 86-82, but she missed a contested layup with 37 seconds left that could have made it a one-possession game.

The New York Liberty joined an exclusive club as the first franchise to win multiple Commissioner's Cup titles since the tournament's 2021 inception. Stewart captured her third championship, having won previously with Seattle in 2021 and New York in 2023. The game shifted to UBS Arena after Barclays Center was unavailable, drawing celebrity fans including Spike Lee and team owner Tom Brady.

This win solidifies New York's status as the WNBA's premier franchise in mid-season tournaments, while Las Vegas faces questions about their championship ceiling without Wilson's presence in crucial moments.