LAS VEGAS (May 9, 2026) – Poor shooting and turnovers plagued the Las Vegas Aces (0-1), who dropped their home opener to the Phoenix Mercury (1-0) 99-66 after receiving their 2025 championship rings on Saturday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. A’ja Wilson scored a team-high 19 points, Jackie Young scored 12, NaLyssa Smith added 11 and Chennedy Carter checked in for 10 points.

Phoenix had six players score in double figures, led by 20 points from Alyssa Thomas and 19 from Jovana Nogic.

Stats | Game Gallery | Highlights | Ring Ceremony Gallery

	1	2	3	4	Final
LVA	21	14	10	21	66
PHX	27	29	27	16	99

First Quarter Highlights (Phoenix 27, Las Vegas 21)
Phoenix scored first and by the 6:33 mark, held a 12-3 lead. The Aces scored the next 3 points and trailed by 7, 21-14, with 3:07 on the clock. The Mercury scored back-to-back buckets for a 26-14 advantage at 2:20 before the Aces closed the first period on a 7-1 spurt. The Aces hit 47.4% of their shots from the field but just 1 of 4 from deep; the Mercury made 45% of their attempts and 2 of 7 from deep. Phoenix was 7 of 8 from the line compared to 2 of 4 by Las Vegas. Young finished with a quarter-leading 9 points, Nogic topped out with 6 for Phoenix.

Second Quarter Highlights (Phoenix 56, Las Vegas 35)
Phoenix opened the second quarter on a 13-2 run for a 41-23 lead at 5:52. Las Vegas came no closer than 15 points the remainder of the half. The Mercury shot a red-hot 57.9% from the field and went 4 of 5 from 3-point, while the Aces shooting chilled as they made just 37.5% of their field goal attempts and 2 of 5 from deep. Further, the Aces never earned a trip to the line, whereas Phoenix was 3 of 4. Nogic led all scorers with 13 points aided by 3 of 3 from distance, while Wilson led the Aces with 9.

Third Quarter Highlights (Phoenix 83, Las Vegas 45)
The Aces went cold in the third period, making just 21.1% (4-19 FGs) from the field overall and 12.5% (1-8 3pt FGs) from deep; the Mercury continued to shoot well, hitting 57.1% of their field goal attempts and 2 of 6 from 3-point. Thomas led Phoenix with 10 points and Wilson had 5 to lead the Aces.

Fourth Quarter Highlights (Phoenix 99, Las Vegas 66
Shooting turned in the final frame as the Aces netted 58.8% of their shots and Phoenix made35.3% of theirs. However, the gap was too wide to overcome. Carter led all scorers with 10 points and Kiana Williams scored 8 for Phoenix.

KEY STATS
In 2025 the ACLU tracked 616 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the United States. So far in 2026, the ACLU is tracking 529 anti-LGBTQ+ bills across our nation.

Phoenix’ Thomas scored the opening bucket at 9:36 in the first quarter, the Mercury never trailed and went up by as many as 38 points on multiple occasions.

	FGM-A	PCT	3PM-A	PCT	FTM-A	PCT	OFF	DEF	REB	A	PF	S	T	B
LVA	29-71	.408	4-19	.211	4-8	.500	6	29	35	19	15	5	17	8
PHX	38-77	.494	11–24	.458	12-15	.800	7	30	37	23	10	11	7	4

Points …

	In the Paint	2nd Chance	Fast Break
LVA	38	10	8
PHX	46	12	10

GAME NOTES
With her 4 rebounds tonight, Wilson now has 2,498 for her career and is 2 boards away from becoming the 12th player in WNBA history with at least 5,500 points and 2,500 rebounds.

Wilson ranks No. 18 among all-time WNBA rebounders. Swin Cash is No. 17 with 2,521.

UP NEXT
The Aces travel to Los Angeles for their first back-to-back of the season when they take on the Sparks at 3 pm Sunday. The game will be televised nationally on ION and locally on The Spot-Vegas 34.

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