Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces is ready for that top scoring cigar after doing most of the heavy lifting against the Minnesota Lynx leading with 40 points in Minnesota on Sun Jul 9, 2023 (@LVAces photo)

Aces Steamroll Lynx 113-89

By Barbara Mason

Sunday night the Las Vegas Aces (17-2) steamrolled the Minnesota Lynx (9-10) with ball protection front and foremost in their mind and came away with a 113-89 win. The Aces were favored in this game but they were against the Dallas Wings as well and lost that game Friday night by two points. This season the Aces have beaten their opponent by an average of 20 points but that did not even come close to happening in their last game with Dallas.

It was a remarkable turnaround from the Aces last game winning every quarter in this game.

After the first ten minutes of play, the Aces had built a 28-19 lead and they did not let their foot off the pedal for the entire game. They won the second quarter 26-23 and had a half time lead of 54-42.

They went on to win the third quarter 26-19, the fourth quarter 33-28 and the game. They only had 12 turnovers in the game much improved from the 18 they had in their last game. Kelsey Plum had a career high 40 points which propelled Las Vegas to their 17th win of the season. She had an amazing 14 of 18 shooting. She was also six of nine from beyond the arc. This was their third win this season over the Lynx.

This win clinched a Western Conference berth in the Commissioner’s Cup. Right now the Aces are averaging 92 points a game which is a point behind the WNBA record. Las Vegas really righted the ship after their second loss of the season last Friday.

Besides the 40 points from Plum, Jackie Young had 17 points and was five of nine from downtown. Las Vegas made 17 shots from beyond the arc. A’Ja Wilson also had another double digit game with 15 points and ten rebounds.

Game notes: Friday night the Las Vegas Aces dropped their second game of the season in Dallas against the Wings in the final minute of the game 80-78. The Aces with 18 turnovers in the game did them no favors.

Tuesday night the Aces will take on Brittany Griner and the Phoenix Mercury at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM.