Author: psushawn

Aces assess talent in 79-75 preseason loss to Minnesota

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20190519 - A'ja Wilson 03

Photo credit: Shawn McCullough (Sports Radio Service)

By Shawn McCullough

The Las Vegas Aces have a list of number one draft picks and now have two time WNBA All-Star Center Liz Cambage, who they acquired in a trade with Dallas last week.

The first preseason game allowed Head Coach Bill Laimbeer to assess his team in a 79-75 loss to the Minnesota Lynx at Cox Pavilion on the campus of UNLV.

“We only had one preseason game, that was this one, to see where we are at and what we need to work on,” said Laimbeer. ”We need to be able to score and make shots in big times. At the end of the day, we need to learn how to win, because this franchise up to this point, doesn’t know how to win.”

Cambage arrived in Las Vegas just prior to tipoff and didn’t play, but Kayla McBride led the Aces with 18 points, while A’ja Wilson added 16 points and six rebounds.

“We have a lot of talent, a lot of number one picks,” said McBride. “I am just really excited to see when it all comes together because it is going to be dangerous. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

2019 first overall draft pick Jackie Young made her Aces debut scoring 16 points while going 7-10 from the field.

“We know what she can do,” said Laimbeer of Jackie Young. “It’s a matter of can she do it on the big stage and I think today was a good learning experience for her and our team to understand her capabilities.”

The Aces will start the regular season this coming Sunday at 5:00 pm against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Game Notes:

  • Liz Cambage arrived in Las Vegas prior to tipoff and arrived courtside during pregame warmups and was greeted with hugs from both the Aces coaching staff and players.
  • The Aces led at halftime 40-32.
  • The Lynx made 10 three point shots to Vegas’ four.
  • The Aces turned the ball over 14 times.

Game Starters:

F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 21 Kayla McBride
C – 8 Carolyn Swords
G – 0 Jackie Young
G – 10 Kelsey Plum

Stanford falls to UCLA 79-72 in first round of Pac-12 Tournament

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20190313 - Stanford 08


Photo credit: Shawn McCullough, Sports Radio Service

By Shawn McCullough

Stanford shot just 35.5% from the field as the UCLA Bruins beat the Cardinal 79-72 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The Cardinal shooting woes continued from their last two games of the regular season in which they shot a combined 40% from the field.

“We’ve shown over the last, I guess, three games a pretty anemic shooting display”, said Stanford head coach Jerod Haase.  “And that was certainly a big part of not making shots and not just threes but around the rim.  And we struggled to score the basketball to that level.”

Senior Josh Sharma led the Cardinal with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Marcus Sheffield came off the bench to add 18.

He’s a heck of a player and a heck of a person”, said Haase about Sharma.  “When I first got the job and wanted to play more minutes, and he was a fantastic ambassador to the program and the university. And this year he flourished.  Always tried to do what I asked him to do and did it at a high level.  And it will mean a lot not just for today but for a long time.”

“Obviously it was a disappointing year, especially the last couple of games”, said Sharma.  “But a lot to do with Coach Haase and the rest of the coaching staff, I think my confidence playing the game and my love for the game has never been greater.  And obviously still disappointed that we lost, and that hurts a lot.”

Stanford trailed the entire game, but rallied late in the second half to cut a 14 point halftime deficit to just seven points at the end of the game.

Sheffield on shots falling late in the game, “I think we just started getting a few stops, our energy increased. And once the shots started falling, they just started falling.  So, yeah, we just tried to compete to the end, really.”

With the loss, the Cardinal fell to 15-16 on the season.

“We’re certainly disappointed”, said Haase on the season.  “At this point, though, we’re probably looking back to the entire year and trying to find some of the positives and understand some of the negatives, as well.”

Game Notes:

  • Stanford is now 17-21 all time in the Pac-12 Tournament
  • Stanford lost to UCLA last season in the Pac-12 Tournament 88-77 in the quarterfinals
  • The Cardinal won their only Pac-12 Tournament championship with a 77-66 win over Washington on March 13, 2004

Aces eliminated from playoff contention with 107-102 loss to Dallas

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Aja

Photo credit: Las Vegas Aces

By Shawn McCullough

The Aces fought through the second to the last game of the regular season, but fell short of the playoffs for the fourth straight season.

The Wings got 43 points from center Liz Cambage to beat the Aces 107-102 at the College Park Center in Dallas on Friday.

Forward A’ja Wilson led the Aces with 34 points and seven rebounds, while guard Kayla McBride added a double-double, 16 points and 12 assists.

The Aces led by six points at halftime, but Dallas battled back and later held off Las Vegas down the stretch of the game.

The Aces trail the Wings by one game for the final playoff spot with one game remaining for each team, but since Dallas beat Las Vegas all three times this season, the Wings win the tie breaker in the event the two teams end the season tied.

With the loss, the Aces fell to 14-19 on the season, still improving on an 8-26 record last season.

The Aces will finish the season on Sunday against the Atlanta Dream at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 pm PDT.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Game Notes:

  • A’ja Wilson scored in double figures (34) for the 31st straight game.
  • The Aces shot 57.7% from the field.
  • The Aces were out-rebounded 42-25.

Game Starters:

F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 1 Tamera Young
C – 8 Carolyn Swords
G – 21 Kayla McBride
G – 10 Kelsey Plum