Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum each scored 26 points and the defending champion Las Vegas Aces pulled away from the New York Liberty in the second half to win 99-82 in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.

The highly anticipated WNBA Finals matchup between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty tips off Sunday.

Coaches Becky Hammon and Sandy Brondello friendship goes back to their days in San Antonio.

Jonquel Jones scored 25 points, including five in the final minute, and New York earned its first trip to the WNBA Finals in 21 years with an 87-84 win over the Connecticut Sun.

Stephanie White was honored as the WNBA’s Coach of the Year on Sunday after guiding the Connecticut Sun to a 27-win season and a No. 3 seed in the playoffs.

Brittney Griner sat on the bench in warmups for the second straight game, sidelined by a hip injury she suffered earlier this week.

Recent allegations by WNBA player Dearica Hamby that her coach harassed her for being pregnant have shined a renewed spotlight on one of the biggest challenges that female professional athletes face.

Lauren Jackson capped her storied international basketball career with another bronze medal and scored 30 points to lead Australia to a 95-65 win over Canada in the third-place game at the women’s World Cup.

New York has long been known as a melting pot.

Lauren Jackson has been named on her fifth FIBA World Cup roster for Australia in a comeback to international basketball.

Australian basketball star Lauren Jackson is making a comeback after retiring six years ago.

The New York Liberty are currently two games out of a spot in the WNBA playoffs.

The New York Liberty are a work in progress.

Brittney Griner has been able to receive emails and letters from WNBA players to an account Griner’s agent set up to allow them to communicate with her.

Liberty coach Sandy Brondello was on her way to morning shootaround when she heard the news that Russia had extended Brittney Griner’s pre-trial detention another 30 days.

Han Xu feels much more comfortable in her second WNBA stint with the New York Liberty.

The WNBA will honor Phoenix center Brittney Griner with a floor decal.

Diana Taurasi scored 14 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter, and Brittney Griner had 28 points and nine rebounds as the Phoenix Mercury beat the Las Vegas Aces 87-84 to advance to the WNBA Finals.

The WNBA playoff chase may come down to the final day of the regular season on Sept. 19.

The WNBA season is only a few weeks old and there already have been five games that have decided in overtime.

(Olaf Lange via AP)Phoenix coach Sandy Brondello called her husband Olaf Lange and good-naturedly ribbed him that he was late for a zoom interview. The first-year Chicago Sky assistant replied that he was logging in as they were speaking. While they have been living apart the first two weeks in the bubble, they have gotten together for a few family meals. The two met years ago in Germany when Brondello was playing and Lange was a young assistant coach on that team. Theyve coached together in San Antonio and in Russia and Lange is an assistant for Brondello with theustralian national team.