The WNBA season came to a close on Sunday as the Aces defeated the Sun in Game 4 to win their first championship in franchise history. That milestone brings us to naming our final team of the month.

For September, the roster is made up of players from Las Vegas and Connecticut whose performances kept their teams alive into the apex of the WNBA season.

Chelsea Gray, G, Las Vegas Aces

There’s no team of the month without Finals MVP Chelsea Gray, who averaged 21.7 points, seven assists and 3.8 rebounds per game during the postseason. In September alone, she averaged 22.2 points per game, recording a double-double of 31 points and 10 assists in Game 4 of the semifinals against Seattle to propel the Aces into the Finals.

Throughout the playoffs, Gray made tough shot after tough shot, shooting 61.7 percent from the field and 66.7 percent on contested shots.

Riquna Williams, G, Las Vegas Aces

RIQUNA WILLIAMS STEP-BACK. CLUTCH 🥶 pic.twitter.com/BlVetsPxX7

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 18, 2022

Gray may be the Finals MVP, but the Aces wouldn’t have won Game 4 without Riquna Williams, who came off the bench to score 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the 3-point line. She made four of those 3-pointers during the fourth quarter, which made up nearly half of the Aces’ 25 points in the frame.

Her final two 3-pointers came in the last 1:39 of play. The first gave Las Vegas a two-point lead, and the second extended their advantage to four points with just 53 seconds to go.

A’ja Wilson, F, Las Vegas Aces

The WNBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year continued her dominance in September, recording five double-doubles. She started the month with a 34-point and 11-rebound performance and followed it up with 23 points and 13 rebounds to help the Aces advance past the Storm in the semifinals.

Wilson ended the month averaging 20 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in the Finals. Wilson was on the court for nearly every big moment for the Aces, averaging 37.2 minutes per game during the postseason.

Alyssa Thomas, F, Connecticut Sun

Connecticut’s floor leader made history in Game 3, becoming the first WNBA player to record a triple-double in the Finals when she finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists to help her team force a Game 4. Then she did it again in that game, recording 11 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a Herculean effort to try to keep the Sun’s season from ending.

Jonquel Jones, F, Connecticut Sun

While Thomas was making history, Jonquel Jones was fighting an intense battle with Wilson in the paint. During the Finals, the 2021 MVP averaged 16 points and 8.3 rebounds. She also kept the Sun alive in Game 4 with 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots, both of which came against Wilson. And in the semifinals, Jones pushed her team past the Sky in Game 5, recording a double-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

Second Team

Kelsey Plum, G, Las Vegas Aces

Plum came alive in Game 2, exploiting the Sun defense with drives to the basket and scoring 20 points to give her team a 2-0 lead in the series. She had 15 points, three assists and three steals in Game 4 to help the Aces seal the championship.

DeWanna Bonner, G/F, Connecticut Sun

In Game 3 of the Finals, Bonner kept the Sun from being swept by using her length to defend Gray, who finished with 11 points but only scored two when Bonner was guarding her. She also recorded 18 points, six rebounds and five assists in that contest.

DEFENSE ➡️ OFFENSE‼️#WNBAFinals pic.twitter.com/KSopwhOQTM

— ESPN (@espn) September 16, 2022

Breanna Stewart, F, Seattle Storm

Despite playing just two games in September, Breanna Stewart earns a second team nod because of her monster numbers. She had 20 points and 15 rebounds in Game 3 against the Aces, and then 42 points in Game 4 as she battled to keep her team alive in the series.

Jewell Loyd, G, Seattle Storm

Like Stewart, Jewell Loyd did everything she could for the Storm in a memorable semifinals series against the Aces. Loyd had 17 points in Game 3, and then 29 points in Game 4.

Kahleah Copper, G/F, Chicago Sky

The Sky played three games in September — one win and two losses against the Sun in the semifinals — and Copper was solid throughout, averaging 17.7 points per game.

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.