Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike (3) grabs a rebound against the Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) in the second half of WNBA action at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas on Fri Jun 20, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Rich Perez

LAS VEGAS–The Las Vegas Aces (5-7) welcomed A’Ja Wilson back on the court in a matchup with the Seattle Storm (8-5). The Aces dropped their third straight game this time to the Storm 90-83 at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. The Aces came up just short in a real battle. Two missed free throws to end the game sealed the win for the Storm.

Wilson finished with a double double shooting 20 points with 14 rebounds. Jackie Young had a solid game with four rebounds and 22 points. It was just not enough to get past the surging Storm.

Game recap: As the players took the floor rousing applause arose when Wilson took the court. She was back just when the team really needed her. Her return could change the course of the rest of the season.

The Storm came out strong taking as much as a ten-point in the opening quarter but by the end of the first ten minutes of play the Aces had pulled to within two points trailing 23-21. Las Vegas briefly took the lead in the second quarter but Seattle fought back leading for most of the game.

With 38 seconds left in the half, the Aces had taken a 39-36 lead. Las Vegas had a great run in the final 30 seconds of the half taking a 45-38 lead. The Aces had taken control of this game and would need more of the same in the second half.

The Aces picked up where they left off in the second quarter taking a ten point lead two minutes into the third quarter 52-42. Just having Wilson on the floor show-cased the ball control and the flow of the game was slick.

The Aces were hitting the three’s and with only seven turnovers so far in the game they looked like the new and improved Aces. With under three minutes left in the quarter this game got uncomfortably close, the Storm trailing by only three points 61-58.

The Las Vegas lead had evaporated. With 36 seconds left in the third quarter the Storm made a push taking back the lead 64-63. The Aces had some untimely turnovers that seemed to disrupt their rhythm. After three quarters the Storm had taken a one-point lead 67-66.

The fourth quarter was a see-saw affair with the two teams trading leads. As the clock began to wind down Las Vegas had just over three minutes left in the game to overcome the Storm’s 86-81 lead in this game.

Every possession going forward would be critical. The Storm continued to extend their lead and time was not on the Aces side trailing 88-81. This was a photo finish, Las Vegas fighting to the end but coming up just short losing.

Game notes: The Aces took on the Storm in a Friday night matchup at Michelob ULTRA Arena. This season finds the Aces having to contend with something that we never saw coming. So far this season they have a season record below five hundred while last year they finished with a 27-13 record finishing in fourth place in the Western Conference and losing in the Semi-final to the eventual winner, the New York Liberty.

The Aces beat the Storm in the first round of last year’s playoff to advance to the semi-finals. This year they have been really struggling and it has been compounded with the loss of A’Ja Wilson who has been out for two games after suffering a head injury back on June 11 playing against the Los Angeles Sparks missing the entire fourth quarter.

It has not gone well for the Aces since then although they did pull out a victory against the Dallas Wings on June 13th. Wilson’s return date was previously determined to be June 17 but she did not play. Wilson returned on Friday night scoring the second highest points with 20.

She has led the team in almost every statistical category. It has not been a great start to the 2025 season but the good news is that there are more than 30 games left on the schedule and there is plenty of time to turn things around.

The loss set the Aces back six games out of first place the Aces are now in eighth place in the Western Conference. The Aces have a lot of work to do and they could start with capitalizing on second chance points and more ball protection in their next game on Sunday. In their last three games they have averaged 18 turnovers per game and cleaning that up would make all the difference.

Las Vegas will now go back to the drawing board in preparation for their game this coming Sunday with the Indiana Fever. Tipoff for this game is scheduled for12:00 PM and can be viewed on ESPN/ESPN+