Liberty defeated Aces 79-67, thanks to 23 points from Sabrina Ionescu

In their first game since the WNBA hiatus for the Paris Olympics, the Las Vegas Aces came out looking like a team poised to chase their third straight championship. Kelsey Plum scored 11 in the frame, with A’ja Wilson adding eight. The Aces also shot 6-of-9 (67%) from 3-point range.

The New York Liberty, however, looked to be the team with the best record in the WNBA at the time. The Liberty put up a wall in the second quarter, outscoring the Aces 18-8 and taking a 42-36 lead into halftime.

Las Vegas pulled within two runs in the third, but New York never relinquished the lead, with the Liberty pulling away in the fourth en route to a 79-67 victory on Saturday.

Sabrina Ionescu scored a game-high 21 points for New York, with five rebounds. Jonquel Jones had 10 points with 12 rebounds and five assists.

Whether or not the Aces are tired after six of their players competed in the Olympics – four on the gold medal-winning U.S. team – will likely be a popular story over the next few games. A’ja Wilson, however, continued her stellar play with 24 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocks.

Wilson is on her way to her third WNBA MVP award. She currently leads the league in points (27.2) and blocks (2.9) per game, and shares the lead in rebounds (12.0) with Angel Reese.

Plum finished with 13 points, as did Chelsea Gray, who also had six rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks.

The Aces play their second straight game on Sunday against the Los Angeles Sparks. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. ET. The Liberty will get two days of rest before playing the first of back-to-back games against the Dallas Wings on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.