Photo Credit: WNBA

By Shawn McCullough

The Aces avenged a 116-107 loss to the Liberty last Wednesday with a 107-101 win over New York at Barclays Center.

The Aces defense stepped up in the first half, holding the Liberty to just 28 points.

The Aces once led by as many as 24 points, but the Liberty rallied in the second half.

“Bad first half for them and then you flip the script,” said head coach Becky Hammon. “They put together a good second half.”

“I don’t think that we did a very good job closing today,” said guard Kelsey Plum. “We took our foot off the gas.”

The Aces were led by Plum, who scored 27 points while going 3 for 9 from three-point range.

“A win is a win and we need to learn from it,” said Plum.

Forwards A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young each dropped 23 points, while Wilson recorded her 50^th career double-double, pulling down 14 rebounds.

“We have a target on our back, but we don’t have a monkey on our back,” said Wilson. “We try to stick together as much as we can. We lean on each other and we try to execute the best we can and get the win.”

With the win, the Aces improved to 16-7 on the season heading into their third straight game against the Liberty on Thursday in New York.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Game Notes:

The Aces shot 51.6% from the field, while going 34 for 35 from the free throw line.
The Aces out-rebounded the Liberty, 36-27.
The Aces never trailed in the game.

Game Starters:

C – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 5 Dearica Hamby
F – 0 Jackie Young
G – 10 Kelsey Plum
G – 12 Chelsea Gray

Aces Injury Report:

None