Just over halfway through their inaugural season, the Aces have found a solid offensive 1-2 punch.

Kayla McBride scored 28 points while rookie A’ja Wilson dropped 24 in an 84-80 win over the Chicago Sky at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Thursday night.

“We rode our two big horses with McBride and Wilson, but scratched out a win,” said head coach Bill Laimbeer. “We got big rebounds when we had to and we’ll take the home win.”

Laimbeer believes that the two have elevated their play as the season progressed.

They (Wilson and McBride) are counted on to do the bulk of our scoring and everybody in the league knows it,” said Laimbeer. “Teams are trying to set defenses to stop them but they’re just playing at all-star caliber right now.”

Wilson and McBride have established a chemistry together that is now showing on the court.

“We work well off each other and they’re double-teaming if they’re trapping in the post,” said Wilson. “I know that I can trust the fact that I can kick it out to her and she’ll knock down the open shot. I think she feels the same way.”

With the win, the Aces improved to 7-12 on the season and moved into ninth place in the WNBA standings.

“I thought that was a very important win for us, we have an outside chance at a playoff berth down the road if we continue to be competitive and win games,” said Laimbeer.  “They’re growing and they’re hungry and they want that playoff chance, so I told them they had to win this game and they did.”

The Aces trail the Atlanta Dream by 2.5 games and the Dallas Wings by three games, as the top eight teams in the league make the playoffs.

The Aces will next play the Connecticut Sun on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Game Notes:

• A’ja Wilson scored in double figures (24) for the 19th straight game.
• Carolyn Swords pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds.
• Moriah Jefferson played her first game at home, coming off a knee injury.
• 4,699 Aces fans were in attendance.

Game Starters:

F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 1 Tamera Young
C – 3 Kelsey Bone
G – 21 Kayla McBride
G – 10 Kelsey Plum