The #1 seed Las Vegas Aces fell to the #7 seed Connecticut Sun, 87-62, at the IMG Bubble in Bradenton, FL in the first game of the best of five WNBA semifinal series.

“We got beat soundly, they [Connecticut] came and played harder than us,” said head coach Bill Laimbeer.  “We just didn’t play well offensively.”

Connecticut held the Aces to just 33.8% from the field and 1 for 14 from three point range.

“We shot the ball horribly today,” said WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson.  “That’s just on us.”

Wilson led the Aces with 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

“It was a great loss for us,” said Wilson.  “I think that we needed to get beat and we needed that slap in the face.”

Guard Jackie Young came off the bench and scored 17.

“A’ja did what she had to do to keep us somewhat competitive until the second half when Jackie found her stroke,” said Laimbeer.

The Aces beat the Sun twice in blowouts in the regular season, 99-78 on August 20^th and 93-78 on September 3^rd.

“We didn’t want to start 0-1, but I think that we learned a lot about how hard we have to play in this playoff atmosphere,” said guard Kayla McBride.  “We just have to respond.“

The Aces and the Sun will play game two of the best of five series on Tuesday.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Game Notes:

• The Aces led only once in the game.
• Las Vegas was out-rebounded by Connecticut, 39-29.
• Only two Aces players scored in double figures, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young.
• The 62 Aces points were their lowest game total this season.

Game Starters:

F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 35 Angel McCoughtry
C – 4 Carolyn Swords
G – 15 Lindsay Allen
G – 21 Kayla McBride