Photo credit: Shawn McCullough, Sports Radio Service

By Shawn McCullough

The Minnesota Lynx showed why they are the defending WNBA champions.

The Aces never led in the game as the Lynx beat Las Vegas 88-73 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Sunday.

The Lynx experience showed on the court against a young Aces team as Minnesota shot 55.1% from the field.

“They have what we need to acquire, that’s mental toughness,” said head coach Bill Laimbeer. “We have to go out and beat them. They are not going to beat themselves and we didn’t come out tonight to beat them. We came out to play a basketball game and it showed.”

“It all boils down to mental toughness, so it is definitely something that we need to learn as we grow,” said guard Kelsey Plum. “They beat us today because they were just tougher than us.”

Kayla McBride led the Aces with 17 points, while Plum added 15.  A’ja Wilson scored 10 points with seven rebounds.

“You have to act like you have been in situations before and know how to pull out of it from a mental standpoint,” said Wilson. “The game is a lot of mental toughness and that is what we need.”

The Aces trailed by only six points at halftime, but the Lynx went on a 14-4 run to start the third quarter.

With the loss, the Aces fell to 5-10 on the season.

The Aces will next play two more games at home against Dallas and Los Angeles.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Game Notes:

• A’ja Wilson scored in double figures (10) for the 15th straight game.
• The Aces were held to 41.4% shooting from the field.
• Moriah Jefferson (knee) did not play due to injury.

Game Starters:

F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 12 Nia Coffey
C – 19 JiSu Park
G – 21 Kayla McBride
G – 10 Kelsey Plum