Las Vegas Nearly Picks Up First Win, But Falls 75-70 At Washington

WASHINGTON, D.C (May 22, 2018)—Las Vegas had its first win of the season in sight Tuesday evening as the Aces led Washington late in the fourth quarter, 63-62, but the Mystics scored 13 of the final 20 points to eke out the 75-70 victory.

KEY RUNS

The Aces scored 11 of the games first 13 points, and opened up a 16-point lead at 29-13 with 4:20 to go in the second quarter.

It was still an eight-point Las Vegas lead, 44-36, with 1:54 remaining in the third, but Washington closed the period on an 8-0 run to tie the game for the first time since the score was knotted at two. The Mystics took their first lead of the game early in the fourth when Tianna Hawkins’ three pointer gave them a 49-48 advantage, and extended their lead to five at 58-53. It remained a two possession game for the remainder of the period.

KEY STATS

The Aces went 13 for 22 from the free throw line (.591)

The Mystics went 8 for 31 from three-point range, while Las Vegas went 1 for 9.

Washington’s bench outscored the Aces’ bench 41 to 13. 39 of those points were scored in the second half.

The Mystics shot 20.0 percent from the field in the first half, and 65.6 percent in the second half.

Las Vegas outscored Washington 36-22 in the paint.

GAME NOTES

Nia Coffey scored a career-high 14 points.

Lindsay Allen handed out a career-high six assists.

Carolyn Swords grabbed 6 of her 7 rebounds in the first 5 minutes of play.

The Mystics missed their first nine shots from the floor, finally connecting on a driving layup by Elena Delle Donne with 3:35 to go in the first quarter.

Washington also missed its first 13 three-pointers of the game, connecting on their first when Elena Delle Donne drained one with 3:53 to go in the second quarter.

Elena Delle Donne scored 11 of the Mystics first 13 points, 14 of the first 17 and 17 of the first 23.

At the end of the first half, Elena Delle Donne was 5 for 11 from the field while the rest of the Mystics were 2 for 21.

A’ja Wilson came up two rebounds short of posting her second straight double-double to start the season (16 points, 8 rebounds)