American basketball player A’ja Wilson
Credit: © Thurman James, CSM/Alamy Images

On Sunday, September 18, the Las Vegas Aces defeated the Connecticut Sun, 78-71, to clinch the best-of-five Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Finals, three games to one. The Las Vegas took home their first championship in team history. Aces guard Chelsea Gray, who had 20 points and 6 assists in Game 4, was named the series MVP. Gray celebrated with league MVP A’ja Wilson and their teammates on the Sun home court at Mohegan Sun Arena, on the Mohegan Reservation in Uncasville, Connecticut. The Connecticut Sun remained without a title in four trips to the Finals.

First-year Aces Coach Becky Hammon, helped the Aces meld their exceptional individual talents into a strong championship unit. Hammon had been an assistant coach with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and a seven-time All-Star in a 16 year WNBA career.

The basketball teams met for Game 4 before a large Sun home crowd. The score was close throughout, but the steady Aces extended their two-point halftime lead into a final margin of seven. In addition to Gray’s heroics, Wilson played all 40 minutes of the game, totaling 11 points and 14 rebounds. The Sun’s Alyssa Thomas also played 40 minutes, recording a second straight triple-double in the loss. Aces Kelsey Plum scored 15, and guard Riquna Williams added 18 points to help the Aces win their first title. The Aces’ party continued on September 20, when the team held a rally with their fans on the Las Vegas Strip.

American women’s basketball star Breanna Stewart
Credit: © Zach Bolinger, Icon Sportswire/AP Photo

The Aces’ Wilson won her second MVP award. She also led the WNBA in blocked shots and was named Defensive Player of the Year. The All-WNBA Team included Wilson, her teammate Plum, the Seattle Storm’s Breanna Stewart, the Chicago Sky’s Candace Parker, and Skylar Diggins-Smith of the Phoenix Mercury. The Aces’ Hammon was named Coach of the Year.

Breanna Stewart of the Seattle Storm reaches for the ball during Game Three of the WNBA Finals against the Las Vegas Aces on Oct. 6, 2020, at Feld Entertainment Center in Palmetto, Florida.
Credit: © Stephen Gosling, NBAE/Getty Images

On Tuesday, October 6, the Seattle Storm defeated the Las Vegas Aces 92-59 to win the 2020 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Championship in a three-game sweep. Seattle’s win was the largest margin of victory in finals history. It is Seattle’s second title in three seasons. With the win, Seattle tied the Houston Comets and Minnesota Lynx for the league’s most championship wins.

The celebration looked different than in years past. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic (global outbreak of disease), teams have been in a bubble—nicknamed the “Wubble,” for the WNBA bubble—at IMG Academy sports training complex in Bradenton, Florida, since July. The victors could not celebrate with friends, family, or fans, but they certainly will when they return to Seattle. Before that, however, the players settled for a celebration of making confetti angels on the court.

The legends Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart play for the Seattle Storm. Since Bird joined the team in 2000, she has been part of all four Storm titles. In addition to 2020, the Storm won in 2004, 2010, and 2018. Stewart joined the Storm in 2016, earning Rookie of the Year that same year. She was named the WNBA Most Valuable Player for the 2018 season. Both Bird and Stewart missed the 2019 WNBA season while recovering from injury.

Other key Storm players include Jordin Canada, Alysha Clark, Natasha Howard, and Jewell Lloyd. Alysha Clark, in particular, spoke about the league’s mission to bring attention to Breonna Taylor, as well as Black women and girls in general. In March, Taylor, a Black woman, was shot and killed by police officers executing a botched search. WNBA players put Taylor’s name on the back of their jerseys and raised awareness about social justice issues. After the win, Clark said, “It’s a championship for little Black girls and Black women across the country, honestly. I said it after the game, when I was letting it all soak in: ‘I hope each and every one of them feels just as victorious in this moment as I do, because you should. We see you, we hear you. We acknowledge you, and your life matters.’”

April 15, 2016

Breanna Stewart (left), Moriah Jefferson (center), and Morgan Tuck pose with the WNBA jerseys they will be wearing when the season starts next month. The University of Connecticut teammates were the top three picks in the 2016 WNBA draft.
Credit: © 2016 NBAE (Photo by Steven Freeman, NBAE/Getty Images)

Last night, April 14, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) draft was held—fittingly—in Connecticut. The Seattle Storm surprised no one with the top overall pick: University of Connecticut (UConn) superstar Breanna Stewart. In her four years at UConn, Stewart redefined greatness in women’s college basketball. First, she led her team to four consecutive NCAA national titles. Second, she earned the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award all four of those years. Third, as the top women’s player overall, Stewart was named Naismith College Player of the Year the past three years. So no, it was no surprise that “Bre” went number one. The Seattle Storm are no doubt counting their lucky stars to have her.

But then came the next two picks, chosen by the San Antonio Stars and the Connecticut (that state again!) Sun: UConn guard Moriah Jefferson and UConn forward Morgan Tuck. Yes, UConn again and again. For the first time, a single school produced the top three basketball picks in the same draft. It is fitting that a team with four-straight NCAA championships and a 75-game winning streak should have its top players go 1-2-3 in the draft. No doubt the college basketball world beyond UConn is happy to see them go. But UConn, as always, surely has terrific players waiting to take their places. Now that Stewart, Jefferson, and Tuck will be professionals on different teams at opposite ends of the country, they’ll have to get used to playing against each other. Will the camaraderie endure?

The fourth player chosen in the draft, by the way, was University of Minnesota guard Rachel Banham, and the rest of the first round was dispersed evenly to colleges around the United States. Sorry, UConn, you can’t have them all… Twice before in the WNBA draft, players from the same school were selected one and two. In the inaugural 1997 draft, USC’s Tina Thompson and Pamela McGee were the top picks. In 2002, the top two selections were Sue Bird and Swin Cash from—where else?—UConn.

April 6, 2016

Connecticut’s Morgan Tuck (3), Kia Nurse (11), and Breanna Stewart (30) celebrate Connecticut’s victory over Syracuse in the championship game at the women’s Final Four on April 5, 2016.
Credit: © Michael Conroy, AP Photo

Last night, April 5, the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies women’s basketball team defeated the Syracuse University Orange 82-51 to win an unprecedented fourth straight NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament. It was the 11^th NCAA title for UConn and their coach Geno Auriemma, who now has more titles than legendary UCLA men’s coach John Wooden. The women’s tournament has been played every year since 1982, and UConn first won it in 1995. Last night’s game was played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

UConn’s 31-point margin of victory looks large enough, but the game really wasn’t that close. During an apparent breather in the third quarter, UConn let Syracuse rattle off 16 points in a row. UConn was even playing short-handed. Their top 3-point shooter, freshman Katie Lou Samuleson, watched the game from the bench with an injured foot. UConn has done more than dominate women’s college basketball. They own it. Last night’s win was the 75^th in a row for the Huskies. This year, 25 of their 38 wins (with no losses, obviously) were by 40 points or more.

UConn senior center Breanna Stewart scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and dished out 6 assists on her way to winning the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award. She won it last year, too, and the year before, and the year before that.

April 9, 2014

The University of Connecticut established itself as the undisputed monarch of college basketball, winning both the NCAA men’s and women’s championships in a 24-hour period. It was only the second time in NCAA history that one school won both championships in the same season, and it was Connecticut who accomplished the feat first, back in 2003-2004.

The women’s victory on April 8 was no great surprise. Coach Geno Auriemma’s team came into the finals against opponent Notre Dame with a 39-game winning streak and overwhelmed the previously undefeated Fighting Irish 79-58. It was the school’s second-consecutive women’s title and gave Auriemma his ninth NCAA championship, breaking the record of eight he had shared with former Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. Breanna Stewart led UConn with 21 points and was named the Most Valuable Player of the Final Four for the second straight year.

Connecticut’s men’s victory on April 7 was a far different story. UConn was seeded 7th in its tournament and was established as a clear underdog against the red-hot University of Kentucky team. Kentucky’s roster was packed with freshmen who seemed destined to become National Basketball Association millionaires after the next NBA draft. But behind the steady play of guards Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright, UConn jumped out to an early lead and fought off several Kentucky surges to take the title with a 60-54 victory. The school became the lowest seed ever to win the NCAA men’s basketball championship. The victory was a personal triumph for UConn’s 42-year old coach Kevin Ollie, who won the title in only his second year at the school.

Additional World Book articles:

• Basketball
• Basketball (1995) (a Back in Time article)
• Basketball (1997) (a Back in Time article)
• Basketball (2013) (a Back in Time article)