2023 WNBA Commissioner's Cup

Last updated

2023 WNBA Commissioner's Cup Game
Cup Final
New York Liberty Las Vegas Aces
(7-3)(9-1)
8263
Head coach:
Sandy Brondello 		Head coach:
Becky Hammon
1234Total
New York Liberty 1715242682
Las Vegas Aces 1123141563
DateAugust 15, 2023
Venue Michelob Ultra Arena, Las Vegas
MVP Jonquel Jones (New York)
Referees Roy Gulbeyan, Eric Brewton, Isaac Barnett
Attendance8,967
United States TV coverage
Network Amazon Prime
Announcers Sarah Kustok
Michael Grady
Baron Davis
←  2022
2024  →

The 2023 WNBA Commissioner's Cup presented by Coinbase was the WNBA's third Commissioner's Cup in league history. The Cup Final featured the top Eastern Conference Cup team facing off against the top Western Conference team. [1] The home team was decided by the team with the highest winning percentage in Cup Play. [2]

Contents

The New York Liberty faced off against the Las Vegas Aces and won 82-63 on August 15, 2023 to claim their first Commissioner's Cup title. Jonquel Jones was named Cup MVP after scoring 16 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. [3]

Road to the Cup Final

The Commissioner's Cup starts by designating a portion of regular-season games – 10 games per team – as counting toward Cup play. The team from each conference with the top record in designated “Cup games” then compete for the Commissioner's Cup title and a special prize pool. Cup games are the first home game and first road game each team plays against its five conference rivals. [4]

Standings

Eastern Conference
PosTeamPldWL
1 New York Liberty [a] 1073
2 Connecticut Sun 1073
3 Atlanta Dream 1064
4 Washington Mystics 1055
5 Chicago Sky 1037
6 Indiana Fever 1028
Source: [5]
Notes:
  1. ↑ New York will represent the Eastern Conference due to their head-to-head record against Connecticut. The Liberty went 2-0 against the Sun.
Western Conference
PosTeamPldWL
1 Las Vegas Aces 1091
2 Dallas Wings 1064
3 Minnesota Lynx 1055
4 Los Angeles Sparks 1055
5 Seattle Storm 1046
6 Phoenix Mercury 1019
Source: [5]

Funding to Local Non-Profits

Each team selects a charity of their choice to represent, and support thought the Commissioner's Cup series. Throughout the season, every Commissioner's Cup game win will result in $2,000 for the charity and every loss will result in $500 to their chosen organization. [6]

TeamCharity
Atlanta Dream Helping Mamas
Chicago Sky Sister Afya Community Care
Connecticut Sun #Day43 Black Maternal Health Awareness
Dallas Wings Sisters Network Dallas
Indiana Fever Wheeler Mission
Las Vegas Aces NAMI Southern Nevada
Los Angeles Sparks California Women's Law Center
Minnesota Lynx African American Breast Cancer Alliance
New York Liberty Callen-Lorde
Phoenix Mercury Phoenix Birth Foundation
Seattle Storm Therapy Fund Foundation
Washington Mystics MedStar Health Safe Babies. Safe Moms.

Game Summary

August 15
18:00 PDT
New York Liberty 82, Las Vegas Aces 63
Scoring by quarter:17-11, 15-23, 24-14, 26-15
Pts: Marine Johannès (17)
Rebs: Jonquel Jones (15)
Asts: Courtney Vandersloot (10)		Pts: Jackie Young (16)
Rebs: Kiah Stokes
Chelsea Gray (6)
Asts: Kelsey Plum (6)
Michelob Ultra Arena
Attendance: 8,967
Referees: Roy Gulbeyan. Eric Brewton. Isaac Barnett

Team rosters

2023 New York Liberty roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
C 31 Flag of the United States.svg Dolson, Stefanie 6' 5" (1.96m)235 lb (107kg)1992-01-08 Connecticut 9
G 20 Flag of the United States.svg Ionescu, Sabrina 5' 11" (1.8m)165 lb (75kg)1997-12-06 Oregon 3
G 23 Flag of France.svg Johannès, Marine 5' 10" (1.78m)134 lb (61kg)1995-01-21 France 2
F/C 35 Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Jones, Jonquel 6' 6" (1.98m)215 lb (98kg)1994-01-05 George Washington 6
G/F 44 Flag of the United States.svg Laney, Betnijah 6' 0" (1.83m)166 lb (75kg)1993-10-29 Rutgers 7
F 8 Flag of Germany.svg Sabally, Nyara 6' 5" (1.96m)204 lb (93kg)2000-02-26 Oregon 1
F 30 Flag of the United States.svg Stewart, Breanna 6' 4" (1.93m)170 lb (77kg)1994-08-27 Connecticut 6
F 5 Flag of the United States.svg Thornton, Kayla 6' 1" (1.85m)188 lb (85kg)1992-10-20 UTEP 7
G 22 Flag of Hungary.svg Vandersloot, Courtney 5' 8" (1.73m)137 lb (62kg)1989-02-08 Gonzaga 12
G/F 13 Flag of the United States.svg Willoughby, Jocelyn 6' 0" (1.83m)180 lb (82kg)1998-03-25 Virginia 2
C 21 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Xu, Han 6' 10" (2.08m)193 lb (88kg)1999-10-31 China 2
Head coach
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Sandy Brondello (Western Sydney)
Assistant coaches
Flag of Germany.svg Olaf Lange
Flag of the United States.svg Roneeka Hodges (Florida State)
Flag of the United States.svg Zach O'Brien (Saint Joseph's College of Maine)
Athletic trainer
Flag of the United States.svg Terri Acosta
Strength and conditioning coach
Flag of the United States.svg Emily Zaler
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured

Depth

Pos.StarterBench
PG Courtney Vandersloot
SG Sabrina Ionescu Marine Johannès
SF Betnijah Laney Kayla Thornton
Jocelyn Willoughby
PF Breanna Stewart Nyara Sabally
C Jonquel Jones Stefanie Dolson
Han Xu
2023 Las Vegas Aces roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
F 1 Flag of the United States.svg Bell, Kierstan 6' 1" (1.85m)176 lb (80kg)2000-03-16 Florida Gulf Coast 1
F 7 Flag of Israel.svg Clark, Alysha 5' 11" (1.8m)167 lb (76kg)1987-07-07 Middle Tennessee 10
C 81 Flag of the United States.svg Coates, Alaina 6' 4" (1.93m)225 lb (102kg)1995-04-07 South Carolina 4
G 51 Flag of the United States.svg Colson, Sydney 5' 8" (1.73m)140 lb (64kg)1989-08-06 Texas A&M 8
F/C 13 Flag of Australia (converted).svg George, Cayla 6' 4" (1.93m)192 lb (87kg)1989-05-01 Australia 3
G 12 Flag of the United States.svg Gray, Chelsea 5' 11" (1.8m)170 lb (77kg)1992-10-08 Duke 8
F/C 3 Flag of the United States.svg Parker, Candace  Cruz Roja.svg6' 4" (1.93m)184 lb (83kg)1986-04-19 Tennessee 15
G 10 Flag of the United States.svg Plum, Kelsey 5' 8" (1.73m)145 lb (66kg)1994-08-24 Washington 5
C 41 Flag of Turkey.svg Stokes, Kiah 6' 3" (1.91m)191 lb (87kg)1993-03-30 Connecticut 7
G 2 Flag of the United States.svg Williams, Riquna 5' 6" (1.68m)165 lb (75kg)1990-05-28 Miami (FL) 10
F 22 Flag of the United States.svg Wilson, A'ja 6' 4" (1.93m)195 lb (88kg)1996-08-08 South Carolina 5
G 0 Flag of the United States.svg Young, Jackie 6' 0" (1.83m)165 lb (75kg)1997-09-16 Notre Dame 4
Head coach
Flag of the United States.svg Becky Hammon (Colorado State)
Assistant coaches
Flag of the United States.svg Natalie Nakase (UCLA)
Flag of the United States.svg Tyler Marsh (Birmingham–Southern)
Flag of the United States.svg Charlene Thomas-Swinson (Auburn)
Athletic trainer
Flag of the United States.svg Michelle Anumba (Duke)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured

Depth chart

Pos.StarterBench
PG Chelsea Gray Sydney Colson
SG Kelsey Plum Riquna Williams Cruz Roja.svg
SF Jackie Young Alysha Clark
Kierstan Bell
PF Candace Parker Cruz Roja.svg Cayla George
C A'ja Wilson Kiah Stokes

References

  1. ↑ "WNBA Cup Leaderboard". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  2. ↑ "WNBA And ESPN Announce Broadcast Schedule and Added Programming For 2023 Regular Season". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  3. ↑ Voepel, M.V. "Liberty win Commissioner's Cup with blowout of rival Aces". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  4. ↑ "2020 WNBA Season to Feature Inaugural Commissioner's Cup, Expanded 36-Game Schedule for Teams and More ABC Games". Wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Commissioner's Cup". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  6. ↑ Whitley, Brittany. "What is the Commissioner's Cup?". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.