LAS VEGAS (May 31, 2019)—The Aces bench went 13 for 21 from the field and scored 38 points Friday evening, but it wasn’t enough as Las Vegas dropped an 86-84 decision on the road to the Phoenix Mercury. A’ja Wilson had two shots to tie the game over the final seconds, but neither found the bottom of the net.
KEY RUNS
Trailing 21-12 with 3:57 left to go in the first quarter, the Aces outscored Phoenix 29-8 over the next nine minutes to go up 12, 41-29.
Phoenix scored 13 of the next 15 points to cut the Aces lead to one at the half, 43-42
A 14-5 Las Vegas’ run to open the third put the Aces back up by double digits.
Las Vegas still led by five, 67-62 with 9:22 remaining in the game, but Phoenix scored 13 straight points to regain the lead, 75-67.
After the Aces went back in front, 82-80 with 1:57 left on the clock, the Mercury scored six of the last eight points to secure the win.
KEY STATISTICS
Las Vegas’ bench went 10 for 12 from the field in the first half and scored 28 points compared to the starters who went 5 for 26 and scored 15 points.
The Mercury bench scored just 2 of the team’s 86 points.
Phoenix shot 50.8 percent from the field, while Las Vegas hit 39.5 percent of their shots. However, the Aces took 13 more shots than the Mercury thanks to a 13-4 advantage in offensive rebounds.
When Dearica Hamby was on the floor, the Aces outscored Phoenix by 21. points.
GAME NOTES
A’ja Wilson scored in double figures for the 35th straight game to start her career (11 points).
The Aces were trying to move to 2-0 for just the third time in franchise history (2002, 2011).
Dearica Hamby scored in double figures for the fourth straight game (10 points).
NEXT GAME
The Aces return home to take on the Connecticut Sun on Sunday, June 2 beginning at 3 pm PT.