{"id":293723,"date":"2025-10-11T04:19:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T04:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/293723\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T04:19:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T04:19:17","slug":"las-vegas-aces-win-2025-wnba-championship-following-sweep-of-phoenix-mercury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/293723\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Aces win 2025 WNBA championship following sweep of Phoenix Mercury"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Three of a kind! The Las Vegas Aces can now call themselves the WNBA\u2019s latest dynasty.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Aces secured the 2025 WNBA championship following a 97-86 win over the Phoenix Mercury Friday to sweep the Finals.\n <\/p>\n

\n It is Las Vegas\u2019 third title in four seasons and were led by no other than superstar A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n

\n The 29-year-old Wilson finished with 31 points and nine rebounds to add another ring to her collection of accolades which include being named MVP for a record-breaking fourth time this season.\n <\/p>\n

\n It wasn\u2019t the only history Wilson made.\n <\/p>\n

\n She was named Finals MVP for the second time in her career, and has now become the first player in WNBA history to win MVP, FMVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.\n <\/p>\n

\n
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The @LVAces<\/a> win Game 4 and are the 2025 WNBA Champions \ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n

A’ja Wilson: 31 PTS | 9 REB | 4 AST | 3 BLKS | 2 STL
Jackie Young: 18 PTS | 7 REB | 8 AST
Chelsea Gray: 18 PTS | 4 REB | 4 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLKS#WelcometotheW<\/a><\/p>\n

WNBA Finals presented by @YouTubeTV<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/YS3Lfs2RVd<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 WNBA (@WNBA) October 11, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n An emotional Wilson shared an embrace with her partner, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, following the win.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cFor us to be able to celebrate this, it\u2019s truly special,\u201d Wilson told ESPN on making history. \u201cWe worked our butts off to get to this point. And now its time to have some fun. I wish I could take this credit but this is God\u2019s work. This ain\u2019t got nothing to do with me. This is not about X\u2019s and O\u2019s. This is from what\u2019s inside.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Just like the story in Game 3 a few days ago, it wasn\u2019t an easy road to victory for Las Vegas.\n <\/p>\n

\n Despite a 16-point deficit going into halftime, the Mercury have proven in these Finals that no one can ever count them out.\n <\/p>\n

\n Phoenix clawed their way back into the game in the third quarter, cutting the Aces lead to just 12 behind forward Kahleah Copper scoring 12 of her 30 points in the period.\n <\/p>\n

\n Late in the third, it all came to a crashing halt as Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts was ejected after being issued a double technical for arguing a foul call on guard Monique Akoa Makani.\n <\/p>\n

\n The second-year coach appeared to be confused after the foul call before exiting the court and heading into the locker room tunnel.\n <\/p>\n

\n The ejection grew the ire of Copper.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think the refs aren\u2019t doing a good job tonight, I\u2019m sorry,\u201d Copper told ESPN during an in-game interview. \u201cBut we\u2019ve just got to keep our heads.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The Mercury kept up their resilience throughout the fourth quarter, turning it into a six-point game at one point but Las Vegas proved to be too much.\n <\/p>\n

\n Copper would foul out of the game late in the fourth quarter just as the Aces appeared to have all but wrapped up the victory.\n <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\n As the buzzer sounded and Aces players and coaches rushed onto the Mortgage Matchup Center floor to celebrate the win, guard Chelsea Gray commended her team for getting through the adversity they faced all season.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis team has been through hell and back,\u201d an emotional Gray told ESPN after the game before hugging head coach Becky Hammon. \u201cWhat a run. Everyone stepped up. Everybody. We got the best player in the world in A\u2019ja Wilson. \u2026 We\u2019re champions bro.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The start of the 2025 season was a grueling one for the Aces, starting out 14-14 before winning their last 16 regular season games.\n <\/p>\n

\n As WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert<\/a> was booed loudly while addressing the Phoenix crowd, it was Aces and NFL\u2019s Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis who got to hoist the WNBA championship trophy first.\n <\/p>\n

\n The loss is a familiar feeling for Phoenix, who have now lost in the WNBA Finals for the second time in five years.\n <\/p>\n

\n Tibbetts didn\u2019t mince words about his ejection and the refereeing.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cTo me, that\u2019s embarrassing. I feel bad that I was tossed. Been around this game a long time. I think it\u2019s one of the weakest double technicals ever,\u201d Tibbetts told reporters after the game. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know I got the second one, to be completely honest. I don\u2019t understand it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Tibbetts added he wasn\u2019t trying to get himself ejected.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe\u2019re playing for our playoff lives. Most coaches when they get tossed, you\u2019re doing it on purpose. That was not my intention at all,\u201d he added. \u201cThere\u2019s been issues with the officiating all year. I have to look at it. I feel like I didn\u2019t deserve that.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n When asked about her comments to ESPN during the game, Copper stopped short of expanding on her feelings.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIt\u2019s cool. It\u2019s done. We don\u2019t even got to talk about that. It\u2019s cool. It\u2019s done,\u201d Copper said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Phoenix has won three championships in their franchise history, the last coming in 2014. The team came into Friday\u2019s win-or-go-home game shorthanded after forward Satou Sabally sustained a concussion late in Game 3 and suffered another blow when forward Alyssa Thomas appeared to injure her shoulder before halftime.\n <\/p>\n

\n She returned in the second half, but it was apparent the injury bothered her the rest of the way.\n <\/p>\n

\n Thomas told reporters her shoulder was \u201cgood\u201d and said she was proud of the way her team responded all season.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think this team just showed what we\u2019re about. It\u2019s a game I don\u2019t think I ever been a part of like that, but super proud of how we fought, continued to play through everything. It\u2019s been a great season. No one expected us to even be here,\u201d Thomas said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cOf course it didn\u2019t go the way that we want it to end, but we have a lot to build on.\u201d\n <\/p>\n