2023 WNBA Commissioner's Cup

2023 WNBA Commissioner's Cup Game
Cup Final
82	63
Date	August 15, 2023
Venue	Michelob Ultra Arena, Las Vegas
MVP	Jonquel Jones (New York)
Referees	Roy Gulbeyan, Eric Brewton, Isaac Barnett
Attendance	8,967
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]

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 edit

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 edit

Eastern Conference
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L
1	New York Liberty^[a]	10	7	3
2	Connecticut Sun	10	7	3
3	Atlanta Dream	10	6	4
4	Washington Mystics	10	5	5
5	Chicago Sky	10	3	7
6	Indiana Fever	10	2	8

Source: ^[5]
Notes:

^ 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
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L
1	Las Vegas Aces	10	9	1
2	Dallas Wings	10	6	4
3	Minnesota Lynx	10	5	5
4	Los Angeles Sparks	10	5	5
5	Seattle Storm	10	4	6
6	Phoenix Mercury	10	1	9

Source: ^[5]

Funding to Local Non-Profits edit

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]

Team	Charity
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 edit

Amazon Prime

August 15
18:00 PDT

Boxscore

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 edit

2023 New York Liberty roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From	Yrs
C	31	Dolson, Stefanie	6' 5" (1.96m)	235 lb (107kg)	1992-01-08	Connecticut	9
G	20	Ionescu, Sabrina	5' 11" (1.8m)	165 lb (75kg)	1997-12-06	Oregon	3
G	23	Johannès, Marine	5' 10" (1.78m)	134 lb (61kg)	01-21-1995	France	2
F/C	35	Jones, Jonquel	6' 6" (1.98m)	215 lb (98kg)	1994-01-05	George Washington	6
G/F	44	Laney, Betnijah	6' 0" (1.83m)	166 lb (75kg)	1993-10-29	Rutgers	7
F	8	Sabally, Nyara	6' 5" (1.96m)	204 lb (93kg)	2000-02-26	Oregon	1
F	30	Stewart, Breanna	6' 4" (1.93m)	170 lb (77kg)	1994-08-27	Connecticut	6
F	5	Thornton, Kayla	6' 1" (1.85m)	188 lb (85kg)	1992-10-20	UTEP	7
G	22	Vandersloot, Courtney	5' 8" (1.73m)	137 lb (62kg)	1989-02-08	Gonzaga	12
G/F	13	Willoughby, Jocelyn	6' 0" (1.83m)	180 lb (82kg)	1998-03-25	Virginia	2
C	21	Xu, Han	6' 10" (2.08m)	193 lb (88kg)	10-31-1999	China	2

Head coach: Sandy Brondello (Western Sydney)
Assistant coaches: Olaf Lange
Roneeka Hodges (Florida State)
Zach O'Brien (Saint Joseph's College of Maine)

Athletic trainer: Terri Acosta

Strength and conditioning coach: Emily Zaler

Legend

(C) Team captain
(FA) Free agent
(IN) Inactive
(S) Suspended
Injured

Depth edit

Pos.	Starter	Bench
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

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	DOB	From	Yrs
F	1	Bell, Kierstan	6' 1" (1.85m)	176 lb (80kg)	03-16-2000	Florida Gulf Coast	1
F	7	Clark, Alysha	5' 11" (1.8m)	167 lb (76kg)	07-07-1987	Middle Tennessee	10
C	81	Coates, Alaina	6' 4" (1.93m)	225 lb (102kg)	04-07-1995	South Carolina	4
G	51	Colson, Sydney	5' 8" (1.73m)	140 lb (64kg)	1989-08-06	Texas A&M	8
F/C	13	George, Cayla	6' 4" (1.93m)	192 lb (87kg)	05-01-1989	Australia	3
G	12	Gray, Chelsea	5' 11" (1.8m)	170 lb (77kg)	1992-10-08	Duke	8
F/C	3	Parker, Candace	6' 4" (1.93m)	184 lb (83kg)	1986-04-19	Tennessee	15
G	10	Plum, Kelsey	5' 8" (1.73m)	145 lb (66kg)	1994-08-24	Washington	5
C	41	Stokes, Kiah	6' 3" (1.91m)	191 lb (87kg)	1993-03-30	Connecticut	7
G	2	Williams, Riquna	5' 6" (1.68m)	165 lb (75kg)	1990-05-28	Miami (FL)	10
F	22	Wilson, A'ja	6' 4" (1.93m)	195 lb (88kg)	1996-08-08	South Carolina	5
G	0	Young, Jackie	6' 0" (1.83m)	165 lb (75kg)	1997-09-16	Notre Dame	4

Head coach: Becky Hammon (Colorado State)
Assistant coaches: Natalie Nakase (UCLA)
Tyler Marsh (Birmingham–Southern)
Charlene Thomas-Swinson (Auburn)

Athletic trainer: Michelle Anumba (Duke

Legend

(C) Team captain
(FA) Free agent
(IN) Inactive
(S) Suspended
Injured

Depth Chart edit

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

References edit

^ "WNBA Cup Leaderboard". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
^ "WNBA And ESPN Announce Broadcast Schedule and Added Programming For 2023 Regular Season". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
^ Voepel, M.V. "Liberty win Commissioner's Cup with blowout of rival Aces". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
^ "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.
^ ^a ^b "Commissioner's Cup". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
^ Whitley, Brittany. "What is the Commissioner's Cup?". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved June 16, 2023.

External links edit

WNBA.com

[table_note_NYL0.095695179000355-5] New York will represent the Eastern Conference due to their head-to-head record against Connecticut. The Liberty went 2-0 against the Sun.

[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.

[CCstandings-6] "Commissioner's Cup". wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved July 26, 2023.

[7] Whitley, Brittany. "What is the Commissioner's Cup?". mystics.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved June 16, 2023.

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