Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleagh Cooper (2) goes for the lay up against the Las Vegas Aces center Elizabeth Kitley (33) and Aaliyah Nye (13) during the first half at ULTRA Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas on Sun Jun 14, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Rich Perez

The Las Vegas Aces (5-5) lost a tough one falling to the Phoenix Mercury (8-4) 76-70 Sunday afternoon. The team has really struggled without their star A’Ja Wilson who is projected to return this coming Tuesday.

The team had 22 turnovers conceding 22 points on those turnovers. With poor ball protection winning seldom becomes reality. This has been a very disappointing start to the season so far. They missed open shots from start to finish. Chelsea Gray finished with the team high of 20 points.

Sunday afternoon, the Aces took on the Mercury at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. The Aces had been struggling although did win their last matchup with the Dallas Wings Friday 88-84.

The Aces lost their ace A’Ja Wilson in a losing effort against the Los Angeles Sparks last Wednesday night when she suffered a head injury getting accidentally hit in the face by the Sparks Dearica Hamby while Hamby was driving to the basket.

Wilson missed Sunday’s game but has a return date for this Tuesday June 17 when the Aces take on the powerhouse Minnesota Lynx. It has not been the season we are used to seeing from Las Vegas. Their usual chemistry is just missing something and it is more than likely that the absence of Wilson has a whole lot to do with it.

After the first ten minutes of play this game was tied at 20. The Mercury took some fairly significant leads throughout the second quarter, as much as eight points, but the Aces continued to battle back. At the half, the Mercury were holding onto a 43-39 lead. Las Vegas was stubbornly hanging around, within striking distance for most of the quarter.

It started to fall apart in the third quarter when the Mercury took an 11 point lead with 3:22 left. Head Coach Becky Hammond called a time-out looking to get the Aces back on track. The Aces were having success from beyond the arc shooting 41% to the Mercury’s almost 35% but they needed more success driving the basket.

This had been a very physical game on both ends of the court for both teams. The Aces were just missing too many open shots. After three quarters the Mercury were up by six points 60-54.

Going into the fourth quarter the Aces needed stops and they really needed to settle down shutting down the turnovers, already with 14. Chelsea Gray had the team high with 18 points and both Jackie Young and Jewell Loyd had double digits through three quarters.

With 8:19 left in the game it was a two-point lead for the Mercury 60-58. Ball protection continued to falter as the Aces continued to turn the ball over now with 19. The Aces had conceded 22 points on turnovers.

Every time Las Vegas got close the Mercury pushed the lead back out. Las Vegas had not led since the first quarter. as the clock began to wind down with only 4:16 left on the clock. It came down to crunch time.

With 3:37 left in the game and the Mercury leading 71-67 the Aces had to play each possession with precision, each possession without turnover and start making those open shots. Time was not on the Aces side and with 21 turnovers it’s near to impossible to win a game.

The Las Vegas bench was not very productive with only 14 points to the Mercury’s 25 points off the bench. With under a minute left in the game Phoenix had a 76-70 lead and the Aces would fall to a 5-5 record in yet another disappointing loss.

Kim Stokes had a great defensive game finishing with 14 rebounds as well as Chelsea gray with 10 rebounds. It was without doubt the 22 turnovers that turned the tide in this game.

Now the Las Vegas Aces go back to the drawing board. They look forward to the return of Wilson as they go on the road to take on the red-hot Minnesota Lynx next Tuesday night. Wilson is projected to return for that game. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 5:00 PM.