Kelsey Plum – Sports Radio Service

Cambage scores 28 to help Aces stave off elimination 92-75

Published on September 22, 2019September 22, 2019 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from reviewjournal.com: Las Vegas Aces guard Kayla McBride (21) high fives Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum (10) before the start of Vegas’ WNBA semifinals game with the Washington Mystics on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019, at Mandalay Bay Events Center, in Las Vegas

By Jeremy Kahn

Las Vegas Aces Head Coach Bill Laimbeer was furious after he did not get a crucial timeout in the waning seconds of Game One against the Washington Mystics, but his team stepped up when it counted most.

With their back against the wall, as the Aces trailed the Mystics two games to none in the best of five semifinal series, Liz Cambage was the leader on this night.

Cambage scored 28 points, as the Aces defeated the Mystics 92-75 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

”Our focus is win our home games,” said Cambage, who finished 12 of 15 from the field. ”It would have been nice to win one in Washington, but we know coming back here we’d have our fans to lift us up, we’d have our homecourt – we just had to get the job done tonight. It’s a playoff series, that’s the beauty of it, you learn on the run and all of the mistakes we made in the first couple of games, we really focused on fixing them and getting the job done tonight.”

The loss by the Mystics stopped a eight game winning streak, as they last lost on August 23 against the Chicago Sky.

AJa Wilson scored 21 points, and Kayla McBride chipped in with 18 and the Aces forced a game four on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

WNBA MVP Elena Della Donne led the Mystics with 22 points, Kristi Tolliver scored 14 and Aerial Powers dropped in 14.

‘I thought that they got into their post game better tonight, we didn’t do as good a job,” Washington coach Mike Thibault said. ”They put more pressure on us and we didn’t shoot the ball well. The same people that made a lot of shots the other night didn’t make shots today and that was the difference. This is the first really stinker of a game we’ve had in a long time.”

The Aces took the lead for good In the second quarter, as they trailed by two; however, after a 12-0 run over a four minute period, the Aces took a 10-point lead and never gave up the lead.

Playoff Schedule:
Game 1 Mystics 97, Aces 95
Game 2 Mystics 103, Aces 91
Game 3 Sunday, September 22 Ace 92 Mystics 75  Game 4 Tuesday, September 24 Mystics at Aces
Game 5 Thursday, September 26 Aces at Mystics (if needed)

NOTES: Kelsey Plum was in the starting lineup after coming off the bench in the first two games of the series, and scored nine points and also dished off nine assists.

UP NEXT: The Aces and Mystics will meet on Tuesday night in Game Four at Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Associated Press contributed to this report

Aced That Test: Vegas holds on at Minnesota, their first win over the Lynx since 2014

Published on July 14, 2018July 14, 2018 by moepeaLeave a comment

Photo courtesy of Aaron Lavinsky/Minneapolis Star Tribune

By Morris Phillips

MINNEAPOLIS — The growth process of the Las Vegas Aces reached a significant milestone on Friday night.

Winning at the Target Center–in front of the WNBA’s best home crowd–and maintaining a lead throughout the fourth quarter when as many things went wrong as went right, said as much as beating the four-time champions for the first time since the 2014 playoffs.

Coach Bill Laimbeer wasn’t in the mood to organize a parade in celebration of the 85-77 win–part of a first-ever, four-game win streak for the Aces. But the veteran coach liked what he saw.

“We’re getting better. No question about that. We’re playing hard every game. We have some horses that we can go to. Now we have to get more pieces, and our bench players to be a little bit more consistent, and I think we’re making good progress,” Laimbeer said.

Kayla McBride led the Aces with 24 points, but McBride was just one of five Aces to score in double figures. While the Aces’ stars–McBride, Kelsey Plum and rookie, No. 1 overall pick A’ja Wilson–led the way, they had plenty of help. Front court reserve Carolyn Swords played 28 minutes off the bench, leading the committee that put the clamps on 6’6″ Sylvia Fowles. And Tamera Young converted consecutive baskets that gave the Aces their biggest lead, 72-64 with 8:58 remaining.

“To beat a great team like Minnesota you have to have everybody kind of involved,” McBride said. “It’s not just going to be one or two players that can beat them because they are so good and experienced. I thought it was a great win for us, especially on the road.”

After starting the season 1-7, the Stars have won nine of 14. The Aces are in the playoff hunt at 10-12 with their eyes focused on the Lynx (12-9), the team currently occupying the sixth and final playoff spot. In between the Lynx and Aces, seventh-place Dallas and eight-place Atlanta will have to be reckoned with as well. But on Friday, the Aces dealt with the Lynx, a team that had beaten them in 19 of the previous 20 meetings dating back to their days in San Antonio.

“I’ve been a part of those,” McBride said of the 19 losses. “Coach did mention that. The only win that we had I think was in the playoffs my rookie year we won like one of them in a three-game series.”

The Lynx fell to 6-4 at home, uncharacteristic for a team that won 103 of 119 at the Target Center between 2011 and 2017, the period of their four WNBA titles. Are they older and losing effectiveness? Sure, seven of the 12 players on their roster are over 30, including rookie Endy Miyem from France. But the Lynx fight the aging process vigorously, and they did so again on Friday. 36-year old Lindsay Whalen looked like fine wine in posting a team-best 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. And 34-year old Simone Augustus followed suit with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

But in key stretches, the Lynx offense appeared stagnant. Minnesota also failed to get Fowles untracked (2-of-9 shooting, 7 points), and got beat on the glass (Aces’ 42-36 rebounding advantage). But most significantly, leading scorer Maya Moore struggled, missing 10 of her 15 shot attempts.

“Vegas was good. For sure, they were really good on offense. They converted right at us (off) makes and misses. Their complete identity, they got to play to it. On both sides of it. Their complete identity, and that’s disappointing,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve admitted.

The Aces host the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday afternoon at 3 pm PDT at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Aces beat Sparks 94-78 Friday night to knock LA out of first place

Published on June 30, 2018June 30, 2018 by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

ACES Drive Lane — The Aces won by driving to the basket and taking mid-range shots Photo: @LVAces

By Charlie O. Mallonee

The 10th place Las Vegas Aces played like World Champions on Friday night as they shocked the league-leading Los Angeles Sparks with an offensive barrage that led the underdogs to an impressive 94-78 victory on their home court. The Las Vegas (6-11) win not only surprised the Sparks — it knocked Los Angeles out of first place in the WNBA into a tie for second place.

The Sparks (11-5) are a team that has feasted on their opponents at home in LA. They own a 7-1 record at home, but entered the contest on Friday night with a road record of 4-3. The Aces knew about that road record and wanted to take advantage of it.

There was only one lead change in the game. The Sparks jumped out to an early lead, but the Aces kept chipping away at that lead until they erased it. The Aces’ Kayla McBride hit a 3-point basket with 2:05 remaining in the first quarter to give Las Vegas a 16-15 lead. The Aces would never trail the Sparks again in the game.

A’ja Wilson led the scoring attack for the Aces. She put up 29 points shooting 50 percent (10-for-20) from the field and converting 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) opportunities from the free throw line. Wilson also grabbed nine rebounds, added four assists and made three steals in her 35-plus minutes of playing time.

Las Vegas point guard Kelsey Plum came up big for her team, scoring 14 points while hauling in nine rebounds to go with five assists. She did not commit a turnover while going a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Plum was also the Aces’ leading 3-point shooter who hit 2-of-3 attempts from downtown.

ACES Hamby — Dearica Hamby was very effective coming off the bench for the Aces Photo: @LVAces

Dearica Hamby was productive coming off the bench for Las Vegas. She scored 13 points, had four rebounds, dished out five assists, made two steals and blocked a shot in her 25 minutes on the floor.

Kayla McBride scored 12 points, recorded seven rebounds and had three assists. Tamara Young put up five points and had five rebounds.

The Aces shot 51.6 percent (33-for-64) for the game and hit 5-of-8 (62.5 percent) from behind the arc. Las Vegas went to the free throw line 31 times and converted 23 of those chances.

Las Vegas also had to be proud of their defense in their big win. They held the Sparks to just 39.7 percent (29-for-73) shooting overall in the game. Los Angeles did excel at 3-point shooting by hitting 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) from long-range, but the Aces defense stopped the Los Angeles mid-range shooting game, which kept them from making a comeback.

The other area that really hurt the Sparks was their inability to get to the free-throw line. They had only 12 chances from the line in the game and made only seven of those opportunities. LA attempted just two free throws in the first half.

Chelsea Gray led the Sparks in scoring with 22 points. Essence Carson added 17 points and six rebounds. Odyssey Sims came off the bench to record 11 points for LA.

The Aces will have very little time to savor their victory as they will have to face the Sparks in Los Angeles this Sunday. Remember — the Sparks are 7-1 at home this season.

Tipoff on Sunday is scheduled for 1:00 PM PDT.