LAS VEGAS (Oct. 4, 2024)—After a tight first half, the Las Vegas Aces blew open the game with a 16-0 run in the third quarter en route to a 95-81 victory over the visiting New York Liberty on Friday night at Michelob ULTRA Arena. The win kept the Aces championship hopes alive in the best-of-5 WNBA Semifinal series after dropping the first 2 games in New York. The well-rounded effort was led by Jackie Young‘s 24 points, while Kelsey Plum scored 20, A’ja Wilson finished with 19 points and 14 boards, newly-minted 2024 WNBA Sixth Player of the Year Tiffany Hayes added 11 points and Chelsea Gray scored 10 and dished out 7 assists.
Breanna Stewart led 3 Liberty players in double figures with 19 points.
Box Score | Highlights | Photo Gallery
First Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 26, New York 23)
Neither team had more than a 4-point advantage in a quarter that had 8 lead changes and 5 knotted scores. The Aces shot 10 of 20 from the field and 4 of 8 from distance, while the Liberty made 7 of 16 of their field goal attempts and 3 of 7 from 3-point. Young led Las Vegas with 10 points and Stewart scored 7 for New York.
Second Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 52, New York 49)
Neither team led by more than 4 points in another even quarter in which the lead switched sides 10 times and the score was tied up thrice. The Aces shot 9 of 16 (.562) from the field to the Liberty’s 9 of 22 (.409). Plum netted 9 points and 3 different players scored 7 apiece for the Liberty.
Third Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 73, New York 55)
The Aces pivotol 16-0 run started at 7:48 and ended at 1:14, giving them a 20-point lead, 73-53. The Aces shot 8 of 19 (.421) from the field and 4 of 12 (.333) from afar, while its defense held the Liberty to 2 of 14 (.143) from the floor and 1 of 7 from 3-point. Plum topped the Aces with 9 points and 2 Liberty players scored 3 each.
Fourth Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 95, New York 81)
The Aces expanded their lead to 25 twice, the second at 5:13 for an 88-63 lead. The Aces nailed 10 of 16 from the field and the Liberty were 8 of 15. The Aces outscored the Liberty 16-8 in the paint. Young topped out for the Aces with 8 points, while Jonquel Jones scored 6 for New York.
KEY STATS
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The Aces shot 37 of 71 from the field (.521), and 13 of 32 from 3-point range (.406), while the Liberty made 26 of 67 (.388) overall and 12 of 29 (.895) from distance.
The Liberty scored 17 points off their 19 trips to the line and the Aces were 8 of 9 from the stripe.
The Aces outscored the Liberty 42-28 in points in the paint, while the Liberty outscored the Aces 13-8 on second chance points.
The Aces gave up just 6 points on 9 turnovers, while flipping New York’s 12 miscues into 13 points.
GAME NOTES
Las Vegas was without the services of center Kiah Stokes (concussion).
Wilson now has 830 playoff points, moving her just behind No. 12 Brittney Griner (834) into 13th place on the WNBA’s career postseason scoring chart. Stewart (No. 11, 840) and Deanna Nolan (No. 10, 867) are next on the list.
Gray now has 756 points, which are the 14th most in WNBA playoff history.
Wilson has scored in double figures in 21 consecutive postseason games which is the 12th longest streak in WNBA history. Diana Taurasi is next on the list with 22 straight double digit scoring efforts.
Wilson now has 414 career rebounds in postseason play, moving past Jonquel Jones into 8th on the WNBA’s career list. Sylvia Fowles is in 7th place with 426.
Wilson (14 defensive rebounds) now has 330 postseason defensive boards which are the 6th most in WNBA history. Lisa Leslie is next on the list with 344.
Gray now has 296 career assists in the postseason which moved her even with Diana Taurasi and Alyssa Thomas (296) into 4th place in WNBA. history. Lindsay Whalen is No. 3 on the list with 341.
Plum made 3 shots from 3-point range, giving her 77 in her postseason career which are the 13th most in WNBA history. Katie Smith is next on the list with 78.
Wilson’s 7 made 2-pointers brought her career playoff total to 309, which are the 5th most in WNBA history. Next up on the list is No. 4 Seimone Augustus (324).
The Aces marked their 25th straight home sellout game, dating to last season’s Finals Game 1, with an announced crowd of 10,369.
The 95 points are the second-most scored against the Liberty this year.
NEXT UP
The Aces and Liberty square off in Game 4 of the WNBA Semifinals on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 12 pm PT. The game is being broadcast nationally on ABC