Aug 15, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) and guard Sabrina Ionescu (20) celebrate in the first half against the LA Sparks Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports The Paris Games may be over but Saturday’s contest between the Las Vegas Aces and the visiting New York Liberty will feature plenty of Olympic talent on both sides.
Ten Olympians — including six gold medalists from Team USA — will share the court as Las Vegas and New York continue their respective playoff pushes.
The Liberty welcomed back four players from Paris this week before thrashing the host Los Angeles Sparks 103-68 on Thursday in both teams’ first game since July 16.
“I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it felt good that we got off to that good start,” said New York coach Sandy Brondello, who guided Australia to the bronze medal in Paris.
Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu, who helped USA women’s basketball capture its eighth straight Olympic gold, combined for 45 points in Thursday’s win.
Stewart scored a game-high 27 points, while Ionescu added 18 with six assists for the league-leading Liberty (22-4).
Nyara Sabally (six points, nine rebounds) and Leonie Fiebich (four points, four steals) also contributed for New York after competing for Germany in Paris.
The Liberty, who won 90-82 at Las Vegas on June 15, face an Aces squad that has not played since July 16 after sending a WNBA-leading six players to the Olympics.
A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young return to Las Vegas after their triumph with Team USA, while Megan Gustafson rejoins the Aces after competing for Spain.
Fifth-place Las Vegas (16-8) also retains Tiffany Hayes, who represented Azerbaijan at the 3-on-3 competition.
Wilson, who led the Americans with 21 points and 13 rebounds in their 67-66 gold medal game win over France on Sunday, is a heavy favorite to capture her third MVP award.
The seventh-year veteran leads the league in scoring (27.2 points per game) and is tied with Chicago Sky star rookie Angel Reese for the top rebounding average (12.0 per game).
Although Ionescu and Stewart are no longer her teammates, Wilson is eager to compete against them amid their respective teams’ quest for a WNBA title.
“It’s always mutual respect between us. I think that’s the beautiful thing about our league — how we can kind of flip that switch in those moments,” Wilson said.
“We all know what we wanna go after now. We checked off the box of the gold medal. Now it’s really time to go.”
–Field Level Media
