LAS VEGAS, NV (May 28, 2023)— Playing its third game in four days, the Los Vegas Aces (4-0, 4-0) pulled away from the Minnesota Lynx (0-4, 0-2) late in the third quarter and secured a 94-73 victory on Sunday night in Las Vegas. Jackie Young scored a game-high 23 points, A’ja Wilson had 21 after hitting 9-of-10 from the line, Chelsea Gray notched a double-double with 19 points and 10 assists, and Alysha Clark and Kelsey Plum added 11 points apiece. Napheesa Collier scored a team-high 21 points and Jessica Shepard grabbed a game-high 15 caroms for the Lynx.
Box Score / Photos / Highlights
KEY RUNS
First Quarter (Las Vegas 24, Minnesota 17)
After three lead changes to open play, Wilson made a layup to put the Aces in front, 11-10 with 5:52 to go in the first period. The Aces never relinquished their lead and outscored the Lynx 13-7 to close out the first 10 minutes of play up 24-17. Wilson led the way with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, Gray dished out 6 assists and the Aces defense collected 6 points off of 5 Lynx turnovers in the period.
Second Quarter (Las Vegas 50, Minnesota 38)
The Aces went up by 14 points (31-17) early in the second quarter. However, the Lynx would not go away and cut it to single digits several times throughout the period, and at the half Las Vegas held a 50-38 lead. Jackie Young hit a perfect 3-of-3 and scored nine points after going 0-of-5 in the first stanza.
Third Quarter (Las Vegas 73, Minnesota 53)
With 3:47 to play in the third quarter, Minnesota was still within striking distance, 60-51. From there, however, it was all Las Vegas. The Aces closed out the period on a 13-2 run, fueled by a pair of 3s from Young. On the opposite end, the Aces defense held the Lynx to 1-of-8 shooting from the field, and with 10 minutes to play the home squad was up 20 points, 73-53. Young scored 9 points and Clark added 6, while Plum passed out 3 dimes in the quarter.
Fourth Quarter (Las Vegas 94, Minnesota 73)
The Aces cruised through the final frame 21-20 to bring the game to a 94-73 close. Gray went off for 10 points in the final 10 minutes to secure her double-double.
KEY STATS
It has been 1,171 days since Breonna Taylor was murdered. In 2022, three officers were federally charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and civil rights violations. One of the officers later pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy, marking the first conviction in the case.
The Aces held the Lynx to 36.6% (26-72 FGs) shooting from the field, while Las Vegas’ offense hit 44.4% (32-72 FGs) of its attempts.
The Aces were red hot at the line, missing just one of 17 attempts.
The Aces dished out 25 assists, its highest total of the season, while the Lynx had 16.
The Lynx outrebounded the Aces by a narrow 40-36 margin.
GAME NOTES
Gray’s 10 assists marked the 10th time in her career that she dished out a double assist mark, and it’s the sixth point-assist double-double of her career.
Wilson scored in double figures for the 28th consecutive regular season game (21 points), which is the third-longest active streak in the WNBA.
Candace Parker moved into 9th place for all-time WNBA career wins (256). No. 8 is Tamika Catchings with 263 career victories. She is also close to playing in her 400th career game, after checking in tonight for No. 396.
Credited with at least 1 steal in each of her past 24 regular season games, Wilson owns the league’s longest active streak in that category.
Wilson is 75 points shy of 3,000 career points.
Young is 9 points shy of 1,500 career points and tonight eclipsed the 500 rebound mark (501).
Riquna Williams did not dress for the Aces (lower back).
NEXT OPPONENT
After playing three games in four days, the Las Vegas Aces have four days off before a four-game road trip. Their next game is at Atlanta (1-2, 0-1) on Friday, June 2 at 5 pm PT, and it will be broadcast on ION. The Aces own an 18-17 regular season record over Atlanta, and are 8-2 over the past 10 meetings between clubs. The Dream, which is averaging 82.7 ppg. and 35.7 rpg., is led by Allisha Gray’s 18.3 ppg., 7.0 rpg. and 4.0 apg. Rhyne Howard and Cheyenne Parker are each averaging 17.0 ppg.