The Aces' rhythm was off in a loss to the Liberty

WNBA defending champion Las Vegas Aces were beaten 90-82 by the New York Liberty on Saturday. In this game, Jonquel Jones scored a career-high 34 points, Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu both had a double-double and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Liberty.

In the third quarter, Kelsey Plum hit a floater to give the Aces a 53-47 lead with 6:33 left in the period. After that, they went nearly five minutes without scoring. New York took the lead for the rest of the game with a 14-0 run, which included six points from Jones. After a 3-pointer by Kate Martin ended Las Vegas' scoring drought with 1:47 left in the period, A'ja Wilson followed with a bucket in the lane. This cut the deficit to 61-58, but the Aces couldn't get closer. Las Vegas (6-6) has lost four of its last five games.

Plum led Las Vegas with 22 points and Wilson finished with 21 points and nine rebounds. Alysha Clark added 13 points, Jackie Young had 10 points and six assists and Kiah Stokes grabbed 12 rebounds.