Category: WNBA
Aces have that championship look in 95-79 win over Dallas preceding the Olympic break
By Morris Phillips
ARLINGTON, TX–What’s not to like? The Las Vegas Aces were the trendy title pick before the WNBA season started, and entering the Olympic break, they still are.
“We’re a super talented team,” Dearica Hamby said. “Really one through 12. Talented, talented roster.”
The Aces were flawless even without Liz Cambage, who has already joined the Australian national team in Vegas of all hot places. Without her, A’ja Wilson dominated in the paint, scoring 22 points as her shiftier teammates spread the floor and moved the ball in a fast moving attack.
Hamby added 22 points, Jackie Young had 17, and Kelsey Plum 16 as the Aces broke open a close game after halftime and led by double digits for the majority of the second half. The key may have been eschewing 3-point attempts and attacking the Wings in the paint with their quickness and passing ability despite Dallas’ advantage in size. The Aces attempted just eight shots from distance, making three while going 31 for 59 from two, and 24 of 30 from the free throw stripe.
The Wings, a surprise with their presence in the postseason chase, fell to 9-12, and they appeared to lose focus offensively after the break, missing 17 3-pointers in all, and allowing too many transition opportunities to their opponent. Three Wings–Satou Sabally, Tyasha Harris and Marina Mabrey–failed to make a shot, combining to go 0 for 17 and 0 for 5 from three. Dallas’ leading scorer Arike Ogunbowale was pestered throughout by Riquna Williams and finished 4 of 19 shooting for 10 points.
Moriah Jefferson and Allisha Gray each had 14 points to pace the Wings.
The Aces will see five of their players depart for the Tokyo Olympics, and with a 15-6 record trailing only Seattle at 16-5, health will be the primary concern for the team over the month long break. Cambage, Wilson, Plum, Chelsea Gray and Ji Sun Park have earned the distinction of being 2021 Olympians.
“We got through the first half healthy, and that’s a huge bonus for our basketball team that we have a full roster,” Coach Bill Laimbeer said.
Aces struggle against Lynx, lose 77-67
By Shawn McCullough
The Aces dropped their second straight game in a 77-67 loss to the Minnesota Lynx at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay.
“That’s probably as bad as a game as we played all season,” said head coach Bill Laimbeer. “Disappointing on our end, they were not there.”
Las Vegas dropped their second game in two weeks to the Lynx after losing 90-89 in Minneapolis back on June 25th.
“They wanted it a lot more than we did,” said Laimbeer. “The effort level that we put out today was not acceptable.”
The Aces were led by guard Kelsey Plum, who came off the bench and scored 18 points.
“We have to be ready from the jump,” said Plum. “We dug ourselves a big hole and it is really hard to get back in the game.”
Olympian A’ja Wilson scored 13 points, while Dearica Hamby added 12 points and nine rebounds.
“We just got a little lazy, standing around,” said Hamby about their offense. “We want to play with pace, but we weren’t really focused and locked in.”
With the loss, the Aces dropped to 14-6 on the season and remain one game behind the first place Seattle Storm.
The Aces will have one final game on Sunday in Dallas against the Wings, before a long one-month break for the WNBA All-Star Game on July 14th and for the Olympics.
Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com
Game Notes:
- The Aces shot just 35.8% from the field, while Minnesota shot 45.3%.
- Las Vegas has used the same starting lineup for the first 19 games, until tonight since Liz Cambage is currently with the Australian National Team. She was replaced at center by Kiah Stokes.
- Current Lynx and former Aces guard Kayla McBride returned for the first time with her new team back to Las Vegas. She was greeted with a scoreboard tribute during pre-game introductions.
Game Starters:
F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 3 Riquna Williams
C – 41 Kiah Stokes
G – 0 Jackie Young
G – 12 Chelsea Gray
Aces Injury Report:
Angel McCoughtry—Out, right ACL
Liz Cambage – Out, Australian Nation Team
Phoenix Upsets Aces 99-90 at Mandalay Bay Events Center
The Phoenix Mercury’s Brittany Griner (41) is double teamed by the Las Vegas Aces A’ja Wilson (22) and Kiah Stokes (41) at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Wed Jul 7, 2021 (Las Vegas Review Journal photo)
Phoenix Upsets the Aces 99-90
By Barbara Mason
Wednesday evening the dominating Last Vegas Aces (14-5) took on the Phoenix Mercury (8-9). The Aces along with the Storm have been the talk of the town with opposing teams just trying to play catch-up in the standings. The Mercury are on a two-game losing streak and the Aces on the other hand have only lost one game of their last ten played.
In last Sunday’s game Las Vegas scored a season high and francise record with 118 points. In that game six players scored in double figures. The Aces have the best offensive rating in the league 107.9. They score an average of 91.8 points per game which is the best in the league. Defensively and offensively this team is on a roll and they have to feel like the best team in the WNBA.
The first quarter would end with a 7-0 Phoenix run leading the Aces 24-20. Jackie Young had the high score in the quarter for the Aces with 8 points. Brittney Griner had the high for Phoenix scoring 10 points.
Mid-way through the second quarter the Mercury had extended their lead to seven points leading 33-26. Late in the quarter the Aces really cleaned up their offense and erased an 8 point lead by Phoenix only to let the Mercury off the hook at the half. The score was 50-43 in favor of Phoenix and Brittney Griner had the high score with 21 points. Her team was shooting over 52% and giving Las Vegas all kinds of trouble.
After three quarters the Aces turned this game around taking the lead 63-58. Las Vegas had outscored the Mercury in the quarter 20-8.
Phoenix refused to go away and with just under two minutes left in the game they led 80-76. The Aces would need to keep their composure if they were going to win this game. It was crunch time for Las Vegas.
With 38 seconds left on the clock this game was tied at 82. The game remained tied and there would be five more minutes to play in overtime. A’ja Wilson was key keeping her team in the game.
The Aces had a tough start in overtime. The Phoenix took a six point lead all of them coming from Brittney Griner. Nine consecutive points for the Mercury and they really had the Aces on the ropes. Las Vegas couldn’t buy a basket in overtime. Phoenix continued to eat up the clock and with two minutes left Las Vegas was looking at their fifth loss of the season dropping them out of first place in the Western Conference.
Everything that could go wrong for the Aces did indeed go wrong in this overtime. Nothing went right for the team. They take on the Lynx on Friday hoping to get back on track. Tipoff is scheduled for Friday at 7:30.
Las Vegas Finishes Off the Dream 118-95
The Las Vegas Aces dominate the Atlanta Dream at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Sun Jul 4, 2021 (@LVAces photo)
Las Vegas Finishes Off the Dream 118-95
By Barbara Mason
Sunday afternoon the Las Vegas Aces were back on the court taking on the Atlanta Dream who are currently 6-10 in the Eastern Conference. The Aces are coming off a great win against the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday. The Aces were pushed to the max against Los Angeles who came out with a great game plan disrupting the Las Vegas offense and at one time in the fourth quarter taking the lead.
The Aces remain tied for first with the Seattle Storm in the Western Conference with 13-4 records. The Storm will be taking on the Los Angeles Sparks today in their quest to remain in first place.
The Aces planned to lean heavily on Chelsea Gray, Liz Cambage, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young. This team has consistently seen double digits from all of their starters and will need to see more of this in Sunday’s game against the Dream.
Atlanta is trying to turn their season around after starting the season strong with an early four-game winning streak. The Dream played a very close game against the Storm on Friday night. They are scrappy and will give the Aces a challenge although Vegas will be a very tough team to get past.
The Dream lived up to their scrappy reputation and after the first quarter were leading the Aces by the score of 31-29. So far in this game the Dream were giving the Aces a run for their money. At the half Las Vegas had taken a lead albeit slim, but a 51-48 lead. The Dream were proving to be very tough for the Aces.
At the half A’ja Wilson had 13 points and the Dreams Cheyenne Parker had 10 for high score. Liz Cambage had 11 and Jackie Young had 10 for Las Vegas. They would need all on board to get past Atlanta.
Las Vegas really got onboard in the second half. The Dream hung around in the third quarter but ran out of gas in the closing minutes. The Aces outscored them 34 to 20 in the final quarter. Las Vegas won this one 118-95, a franchise record for points as the Aces closed this one out in dazzling Las Vegas style.
Kelsey Plum finished with 23 points off the bench and Wilson, Cambage, Young and Williams all shot double digits. It was a magnificent team effort.
Next up for Las Vegas will be the 7-9 Phoenix Mercury at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. The Aces have now improved to 14-4. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
Aces Squeak Past Sparks 66-58
Las Vegas Aces center Liz Cambage, left, is looking to take a shot against the Los Angeles Sparks forward Lauren Cox at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Fri Jul 2, 2021 (AP News photo)
By Barbara Mason
Friday night the Las Vegas Aces took on the Los Angeles Sparks for a second time in as many days. The Aces are tied with the Seattle Storm for first place in the Western Conference. Both teams will be taking on 6-9 teams; the Aces taking on the Sparks and the Storm playing the Dream.
Of course as we have seen time and time again; it’s not the record at the time, it’s how the team is playing on any given day. Nothing is guaranteed but if I had to make a pick, I would predict that both first place teams come away with wins tonight.
The Sparks had a much better game in both the first and the second quarters than their last meeting with the Aces. They trailed in each quarter by four points. It was the Spark turnovers that really gave the edge to the Aces.
Las Vegas led at the half by the score of 38-30. This was a much closer first half than their prior meeting. Last Wednesday the Aces led by 19 at the half. The Sparks were more competitive in the first half than in their last meeting although it was the turnovers that really hurt them.
The Sparks although a smaller team were really disrupting the rhythm of the Aces in the first half. Las Vegas had 22 points in the paint while the Sparks only had 12. At the half Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson led in scoring with 13 points and for Los Angeles Te’a Cooper had 7 points.
The Sparks outscored the Aces in the third quarter by the slim margin of 14-13. Los Angeles really put the clamps on Las Vegas in the fourth quarter. The Sparks trailed by four points early in the final quarter really turning on some defensive prowess.
With 6:23 left in the game the Aces led by a single point. Las Vegas would have to dig deep to get by a stubborn Spark’s team that refused to go away. The Aces offense had gone cold in the fourth quarter. The Sparks had their first lead of the game with five minutes left 55-54.
The Aces offense came to life when it was so desperately needed giving Las Vegas the win in this hotly contested game 66-58. Despite the bumps the gritty Aces pulled this game out to remain in first place in the Western Conference. The Storm also had a heart stopper winning 91-88.
A’Ja Wilson finished with 20 points. Chelsea Gray had 14 and Liz Cabbage with 10 points.
Sunday afternoon the Aces will take on the Atlanta Dream. Tipoff is at 3:00.
Las Vegas Aces game wrap: Aces Breeze Past Sparks 99-75
The score says it all as the Las Vegas Aces improve their record to 12-4 over the Los Angeles Sparks (6-9) on Wed Jun 30, 2021 in Los Angeles (@LVAces photo)
Aces Breeze Past Sparks 99-75
By Barbara Mason
After winning an epic battle against the Storm on Sunday in overtime the 11-4 Aces took on the 6-8 Sparks Wednesday. The Sparks have been struggling and are currently in last place in the Western Conference.
While on paper the Aces have the edge it’s not what team you are playing but how they are playing in any single game. That’s what upsets are made of. In any given game anything can happen but the Aces were coming off an incredible high after their win against the Storm on Sunday and they would be very difficult to beat.
The Aces carried that confidence into the game today against the Sparks and they proved from the get go that they would be a challenge. They had a healthy lead after one quarter outscoring the Sparks 28-19 setting the tone for this game. They had a 56-37 lead at the half and looked invincible.
The Sparks played a close third quarter but just could not outscore the Aces. Las Vegas had built such an insurmountable lead at the half that Los Angeles had little to no chance of catching them. Again the Sparks played a close fourth quarter but time had run out on Los Angeles. The final score was 99-75 elevating the Aces record to 12-4 in the Western Conference.
Jackie Young had the high score for Las Vegas with 18 points followed by A’ja Wilson with 17. Amanda Zahul had an amazing 22 points for Los Angeles but it just was not enough to get by the conference leader.
On Friday night the Aces will again meet the Sparks hoping for another win and perhaps claiming sole possession of first place. Tipoff will be at 7:00.
Las Vegas Aces post game wrap: Las Vegas Wins Epic Battle Over Seattle 95-92
Las Vegas Aces’ Liz Cambage (8) takes it to the hoop right between Seattle Storm’s Jewell Loyd (24) and Mercedes Russell (2) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on Sun Jun 27, 2021 (AP News photo)
Las Vegas Wins Epic Battle Over Seattle 95-92
By Barbara Mason
Sunday afternoon the two powerhouses of the WNBA met in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Presently the Seattle Storm have the best record in the WNBA at 12-3 and the Aces have the second best at 10-4. The game promise to be a battle down to the final buzzer.
Back on May 15th the Aces lost to the Storm 97-83 although three days later they settled the score winning 96-80. Could this be the WNBA Finals preview? With the level these two teams are playing at we could have another Storm vs Aces matchup.
Last season these two teams met in the final with Seattle coming out on top winning the first three games of the finals; claiming their fourth title in franchise history. This would be the final meeting of these two teams in the regular season.
Early on the Storm lived up to their outstanding record outscoring the Aces in the first quarter 21-16. The second quarter was closely contested with each team shooting 21 points. The half-time score was 42-37.
The consistent play of the Storm was a major factor in the first half. Breanna Stewart finished the half with 12 points. For the Aces it was A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young each with 8 points in the first two quarters.
The Storm lit up the third quarter with 3-pointers and steals outscoring the Aces by a narrow margin 23-21. With one quarter in the game, the Storm led by the score of 65-58. The Aces got within two points of the Storm but were unable take the lead in the second half.
Las Vegas would lean heavily on A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young to get past the Storm in the final quarter. Turnovers had hurt Las Vegas at times in this game and they desperately needed to clean that up.
The Storms Breanna Stewart was relentless in the fourth quarter shooting three-pointers at will. With 5:42 left in the game the Aces took their first lead of the game 75-74. The final minutes of the game saw both teams trade leads and with 1:07 left in the game Las Vegas had a slim two-point lead 84-82. There were five lead changes in the final four minutes of play.
The clock would expire with the teams tied at 84 and would go into overtime. With 26.4 seconds left in overtime the Aces had a 91-90 lead. After trailing for most of the game Las Vegas pulled out the win 95-92 in an epic game.
After a tough game losing to Minnesota the Aces fought through fatigue to win this one. A’ja Wilson came away with 22 points and Chelsea Gray with 21 points as well as the game winner. Off the bench for the Aces Kelsey Plum had 15 points. The Storms Breanna Stewart had had 35 points for the game.
Next up for the Aces will be the Sparks this Wednesday night. Tipoff is slated for 7:30.
Aces win fifth straight with 103-76 victory over the Liberty
By Shawn McCullough
The Aces took the second of back-to-back games against the New York Liberty in a 103-76 win at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay.
Las Vegas took control of the game in the first quarter with an 11-0 run to end the first and never looked back.
Six Aces scored in double figures including Kelsey Plum, who came off the bench and scored 18 points with seven assists.
A’ja Wilson scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds, while Dearica Hamby led the team in rebounds with 12.
With the win, the Aces improved to 10-3 and remained 1.5 games behind the Seattle Storm atop the WNBA standings.
The Aces will have some time off now and will next play on Friday, June 25th in Minneapolis against the Lynx.
Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com
Game Notes:
- The Aces shot 44.2% from the field, while holding New York to just 31.3%.
- Las Vegas pulled down 52 rebounds in the game, while the Liberty had 36.
- The Liberty were led by starting guard Betnijah Laney with 20 points.
Game Starters:
F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 3 Riquna Williams
C – 8 Liz Cambage
G – 0 Jackie Young
G – 12 Chelsea Gray
Aces Injury Report:
Angel McCoughtry—Out, right ACL
Aces blow out Liberty, 100-78
By Shawn McCullough
The Aces won their fourth straight game in a 100-78 victory over the New York Liberty at Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay.
The Liberty kept the game close in the third quarter, but the Aces pulled away in the fourth with a 10-2 run to open the quarter.
Las Vegas got a career high 32 points off the bench from guard Kelsey Plum, who went 11 for 16 from the field, including 3 for 6 from three-point range.
Liz Cambage recorded a double-double, scoring 14 points and pulling down 11 rebounds, while Dearica Hamby added 16.
Last season’s WNBA MVP, A’ja Wilson, scored just 10 points.
With the win, the Aces improved to 9-3 and moved into sole possession of second place in the WNBA standings, 1.5 games behind the Seattle Storm.
The Aces will again play the New York Liberty at home on Thursday.
Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com
Game Notes:
- The Aces shot 55.6% from the field.
- Las Vegas turned the ball over 15 times.
- The Liberty were led by Jazmine Jones off the bench with 17 points.
Game Starters:
F – 22 A’ja Wilson
F – 3 Riquna Williams
C – 8 Liz Cambage
G – 0 Jackie Young
G – 12 Chelsea Gray
Aces Injury Report:
Angel McCoughtry—Out, right ACL
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