Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) and guard Tiffany Hayes (15) celebrate after scoring during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Minnesota Lynx at Michelob ULTRA Arena on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Aces defeated the Chicago Sky on Thu Jun 27, 2024 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
By Barbara Mason
Ever since the return of Chelsea Gray, the Las Vegas Aces (9-6) have won three games in a row including Thursday night’s win over the Chicago Sky (6-10) 95-83.. They have a nicely balanced offense now. A’ja Wilson had another huge game with 31 points and Jackie Young finished with 22 points. Kelsey Plum had a 21 point game. Wilson had 15 points in the opening quarter, Young had 12 points in the third quarter and Plum had 17 in the fourth quarter as they took turns standing out in an impressive win.
Game recap: The Sky came out fast winning the first quarter 25-21. A’ja Wilson had an outstanding first quarter with 15 points keeping her team close in the first 12 minutes waiting for the rest of the team to catch up. The Aces did indeed catch up coming right back punishing Chicago in the second quarter 25-14. At the half Las Vegas had a 46-39 lead.
The Aces extended their lead in the third quarter leading 72-63 with a single quarter left in the game. Las Vegas continued to pile on the points and at 7:40 left in the game had a 82-65 lead, their largest lead of the game.
Chicago continued to fight back but they were running out of clock with under six minutes left to play. Jackie Young, Kelsey Plum and Chelsea Gray joined Wilson in a solid second half. Jackie Young had 12 points in the third quarter as the Las Vegas starters showed up big time in the final two quarters.
The Sky cut into the Aces lead with 4:22 left in the game. What had once been a 17 point lead was now an 88-78 Las Vegas advantage. The Aces had to tighten up offensively and Kelsey Plum was the answer with 16 points in the final quarter with under three minutes left in the game. The Sky fought hard but came up short after a nice rally and Las Vegas had won their third game in a row 95-83 snapping Chicago’s two game win streak.
All night long it was a battle between the Aces A’ja Wilson and the Sky’s Angel Reese. Reese finished with a double double, 18 points and 11 rebounds. In the end it was Wilson who won the challenge.
Game notes: Thursday night, the Aces took on the Sky at Wintrust Arena in Chicago and picked up their third straight win. Since the return of Chelsea Gray this team has been firing on all cylinders, with a balanced offense and defense having won three straight games. They got their third win in a row in Thursday night and the Aces are currently holding down fifth place in the overall standings and third place in the Western Conference.
Saturday afternoon, the Aces will take on the 4-13 Washington Mystics at Entertainment & Sports Arena looking to add to their string of wins. Tipoff for this game is scheduled for 11:00 AM.
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