LAS VEGAS (Aug. 13, 2025)—In a close game that saw 13 lead changes, 9 knotted and neither team with more than a 7-point lead, the Las Vegas Aces (19-14) earned an 83-77 victory over the New York Liberty (21-12) on Wednesday night at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. Jewell Loyd hit 5 of 9 from distance to pace the winning side with 21 points off the bench, A’ja Wilson had 17 points and 16 rebounds, Jackie Young scored 15 points and Chelsea Gray added 13.

Emma Meesseman led New York with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Box Score | Photos |Highlights

First Quarter Highlights (New York 24, Las Vegas 20)
After Las Vegas took an 8-2 lead to start, New York slowly reeled it back and evened things up 12-12 at 5:25. A Loyd jumper put the Aces back up, 14-12, but the Liberty knotted the score and moved in front with a 3-pointer to make it 17-14 at 3:57. New York outscored Las Vegas 7-6 to bring the first quarter to a close. The Aces, who scored 5 off 3 Liberty turnovers, shot 47.1% from the field and 2 of 5 from distance; New York made 58.8% of its field goal attempts and was 2 of 6 behind the arc. Gray scored 7 and Meesseman matched it with 7 for the Libs.

Second Quarter Highlights (New York 43, Las Vegas 40)
The Aces received points from three different players during a 10-2 run out of the break for a 30-26 lead at 6:33. However, the momentum swung for New York, which put together a 10-3 drive and were back on top 36-33 with 3:45 to play before halftime. The Liberty’s edge remained between 1-4 points through the rest of the half. NY’s shooting dropped to 47.1%, as did the Aces, who made 40% of their shot attempts in the quarter. Both teams went 3 of 8 from 3-point; Las Vegas shot 5 of 7 from the line and New York did not get sent to the line at all. With 7 points, Loyd was the top scorer and Meesseman led NY with 5.

Third Quarter Highlights (New York 63, Las Vegas 61)
New York went up by 7 points, 54-47, midway through the period and with 3:00 left in the third, New York was up 58-52. The Aces scored the next 7 on a 3 and a 4-point play for a 59-58 edge. The Liberty scored 3 of their final 5 points from the line and Young hit a buzzer-beater to close the frame. Las Vegas made 8 of 19 (.421) from the field, 4 off 11 from 3 and 1 of 1 from the line; New York went 6 of 14 (.429) overall, 1 of 4 from distance and 7 of 8 from the stripe. Loyd scored a quarter high 9 points and Young had 8, Kennedy Burke and Meesseman chipped in 5 apiece for the visitors.

Fourth Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 83, New York 77)
After going back and forth through the first 5:41 of the final frame, Sabrina Ionescu connected on an and-1 at 4:19 to make it 72-72 for the game’s final tie. Sixteen seconds later, NaLyssa Smith made both of her free throw attempts to put the Aces on top for good. The Aces went up 80-74, but Ionescu hit a 3 at 1:42. After Loyd made 1 of 2 from the line, Ionescu’s next attempted 3 was blocked by Young with 69 seconds remaining. Smith came up with the board and although the Aces were unable to convert on their end, 4 offensive rebounds helped eat up the clock and by the time the hosts were whistled for a shot clock violation, there was a mere 20.8 seconds remaining. After a pair of free throws by Young to seal the game, Wilson got a steal with 8.3 on the clock. Neither team shot well in the fourth quarter, with NY making 4 of 16 from the floor and the Aces hitting 3 of 15. However, the Aces connected on 15 of 18 from the line compared to 5 of 5 for the Liberty.

KEY STATS
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The Aces shot 25 of 65 (.385) from the field, 10 of 29 (.345) from 3-point and 23 of 28 (.821) from the line; New York, which was held to 7 of 25 (.280) from distance, made 28 of 64 (.438) of their attempts overall and hit 14 of 16 (.875) at the line.

The Aces outrebounded New York 39-30.

Las Vegas scored 17 points off 11 NY turnovers and coughed up just 10 points from their 11 miscues.

The Aces outscored the Liberty 13-9 in second chance points and 11-4 on the fast break, but the Libs dominated the paint, outscoring the Aces 40-20.

GAME NOTES

Wilson made all 11 of her attempts from the line, the 8th time in her career she’s been perfect at the line with 10 or more attempts, and second in the past 3 games, which ranks tied for No. 4 with Skylar Diggins and Lindsay Whalen in WNBA history for 10 or more free throws made with no misses. Young has three games with 10 or more makes and no misses—two of which were accomplished in 2025—and is tied with 13 others at No. 20. No. 1 is Diana Taurasi with 19 such games.

The win was the 165th win of Young’s career, the highest number of WNBA victories before turning 28. She entered the game tied with Maya Moore and has the rest of the season to increase that record before her September 16 birthday.

Wilson’s double-double was the 114th of her career, which ranks No. 6 among WNBA leaders. Nneka Ogwumike is No. 5 with 115.

The Aces recorded their 42nd straight home sellout with 10,417 fans in attendance — the most consecutive sellouts in WNBA history.

The Aces were without Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (maternity).

UP NEXT: The Aces will travel to Phoenix to take on the Mercury (19-12) at PHX Arena on Friday, Aug. 15, at 7 p.m. PT. The two teams are currently tied 1-1 in head-to-head games, with the Aces winning the most recent matchup on June 29. The game will air nationally on ION.