The Aces’ Sydney Colson didn’t forgive nor forget Sabrina Ionescu’s usage of Steph Curry’s signature “night night” celebration in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.
When the Aces clinched the first WNBA back-to-back title in 21 years in Wednesday night’s Game 4 70-69 win, Colson shared her thoughts with the crowd at the Barclays Center.
“People wanted to count us out because we had two of our starters down, but they don’t know we’ve got some dogs on this team,” Colson told ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “So, I’ve got two words to say: night night!”
The mocking of Ionescu also stemed from a comment Colson later learned of from teammate Chelsea Gray, who missed Game 4 due to a foot injury along with Kiah Stokes.
“It was just the disrespect that was brewing within me, the feeling of disrespect, we said don’t worry about it. W got something,” Colson told a reporter of her speech, which she filmed as a reel for her Instagram account.
“We did as a team. That’s what I’m happy about. I tried my best not to make it too personal but there was that part of me that was like, you tried the right one, because she told me to take my ass to the bench last game when they called a foul.”
The reporter asked who said that to Colson, to which she replied: “Who do you think?”
“I said, ‘God is going to prepare a moment for me and I’m gonna show you can take that ass to the bench,'” Colson added.
The 34-year-old Aces guard also tweeted Wednesday that “if you play in my face and start being disrespectful, then ima match that energy.”
Without Gray and Stokes, Colson and forward Cayla George were trusted with bigger roles with the championship on the line.
She posted two points and one assist before fouling out in 14 minutes off the bench.
While Colson was on the court, the Aces outscored the Liberty by 17 points.
She was a physical presence in Game 4 against the Liberty, who were trailing 2-1 in the best-of-five series and saw saw their guards struggle — Ionescu among them.
The nerves got the best of Ionescu after making a crucial deep shot in the fourth quarter, so much so that she threw up in a trash can on the sideline during a timeout.
The Liberty star tallied 13 points in Game 4, shooting a brutal 5-for-12 from the field and 3-for-7 from the 3-point line.