NEW YORK -- Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum said there's no moral victories in pro sports, but the Aces made a statement Sunday by nearly knocking off the top-ranked New York Liberty 75-71 in Brooklyn despite being without MVP favorite A'ja Wilson (ankle).
The Aces fell behind by as many as 20 but roared back before ultimately going ahead by one on a Sydney Colson 3-pointer with 1:54 to play. The Liberty defense held the two-time defending champs scoreless after that point, and Sabrina Ionescu scored the go-ahead basket with 43.6 seconds left.
With the victory, New York secured its first sweep over the Aces since the franchise relocated to Las Vegas, previously beating the squad earlier this summer by 8 and 12 points on the road.
"Experience, been there, done that, I suppose," New York coach Sandy Brondello said on how the team pulled out the win. "Not happy, some parts were a good part of our game, but the rest of it wasn't. But this team, we've been through so much adversity, I think just a little bit of experience, we didn't want to let this one slip."
Added Jonquel Jones: "Honestly, at the end, it was just whatever we had to do, whatever it takes to get a win and focus on the next possession, not on how we felt about the game as a whole."
Sunday's highly anticipated matchup looked like it was going to get out of hand in the third quarter, when New York built a 20-point edge. But with a group of mostly reserves on the floor, Las Vegas started to chip away, trailing by 13 heading into the fourth and continuing to cut the deficit from there.
Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon -- who credited her group's fight and effort the entire afternoon without Wilson -- said the bench went in and moved the ball much better than the team did in the second quarter, when the Aces managed just nine points.
"They gave us really a chance to crawl back in there and stick our nose in where people probably didn't think it was going to be today," Hammon said.
Las Vegas dominated the fourth 20-11 and scored the first 10 points in the frame. Leonie Fiebich was the only Liberty player aside from Ionescu, who scored seven points, to make a shot from the field in the final period.
After entering Sunday winners of four straight, the Aces fall to 22-13 on the summer but remain in fourth place in the standings. If the current seeding projections come into fruition, Las Vegas and New York could face each other in the semifinals in a rematch of the 2023 Finals.
Plum, who paced Las Vegas with 25 points and scored 10 in the fourth, diffused any comparisons between Sunday and Game 4 of last year's Finals, where a shorthanded Aces squad beat the Liberty at Barclays Center to clinch the championship.
New York is hoping last year remains in the past, too. To ensure a different result and earn the franchise's first WNBA title, the Liberty said they will look to learn from Sunday's blown lead.
"Obviously, we're happy that we're getting away with the win, but we were up 20 at one point," said Breanna Stewart, who led New York with 21 points. "[We have to] continue to build, not relaxing at any point when you're on the court ... making sure that everything on the court has a purpose. Sometimes it seemed like we were just out there floating, and this is the defending champs. Of course they're going to come out no matter who's on the court, whether A'ja is playing or not, they're fighting to win."
A point of concern for New York, though, is that Betnijah Laney-Hamilton left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury after colliding with Jones. She had previously missed time this season with knee issues and underwent a procedure in mid-July. Brondello did not have an update on Laney-Hamilton's status after the game and said she's being evaluated.
Wilson, who was wearing a walking boot, was ruled out earlier Sunday after injuring her right ankle Friday in the closing minute of the Aces' win over the Connecticut Sun. Hammon described the injury as a tweak and said there are no long-term concerns after Wilson underwent imaging but that they are taking things slow with her and will see how she feels going into the Aces' next game Wednesday against the Indiana Fever.
"There's never a good time for this, but she does get a couple days to get that ankle right and get a little bit of rest," Hammon said, referring to the team's approach with Wilson as "very precautionary."
Wilson has been remarkably durable during her WNBA career, last missing a game in 2019. Her 172 consecutive game appearances before Sunday marked the longest active streak in the league.
"She is super competitive. She loves competing, and she super takes care of her body," Hammon said. "She makes all the decisions off the court that you guys never see or hear about to put her in the best position to be her best every night. And that's truly a professional ... and she's tough. I mean, she plays through fatigue. She'll play through some aches and pains, and not everybody has the ability to do that."
Wilson is the runaway favorite for MVP, averaging 27.3 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game this season. That scoring average is on track to be the highest for a single season in league history. She is also 11 points away from setting a record for most points scored in a WNBA season and 71 points away from hitting 1,000.