LAS VEGAS (September 2, 2023)—The Las Vegas Aces (32-6) pushed back against a third-quarter Storm surge, and were unstoppable in the final period for a 103-77 victory on Saturday night. In their final regular season game of 2023 at Michelob ULTRA Arena, the Aces held a 2-point lead with 10:55 remaining in the game and outscored the Storm 34-10 the rest of the way. A’ja Wilson notched a double-double of 30 points and 10 rebounds, Jackie Young scored 22, Alysha Clark checked in for 16, Kelsey Plum had 15 and Chelsea Gray missed out on a double-double after scoring 14 and dishing out 9 dimes. Jewell Loyd scored 28 for the Storm (11-26).
Box Score | Photos | Highlights
First Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 25, Seattle 19)
After spotting the Storm 5 points to start the game, the Aces responded with 12 straight points in a 16-2 run that put them up 16-7 with 4:40 remaining. The Aces hit 40.9% of their field goal attempts, while the Storm were held to 33.3%. The home side outscored the visitors 12-2 in the paint and 10-0 in transition. Wilson and Gray scored 7 points and Stokes hauled in 6 rebounds. Sami Whitcomb hit a pair of 3s to lead Seattle with 6 points.
Second Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 49, Seattle 43)
The Storm fired off an 8-2 run and knotted the score at 27 over the first 2 minutes and 10 seconds of the stanza. However, the Aces hit back with a 16-4 run that gave them their biggest lead of the half, 43-31, with 3:07 to go before the break. The Storm, behind 7 points from Loyd, outscored the Aces 12-6 over the final minutes to slice the gap to 49-43 at halftime. The Storm nailed 53.8% from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3-point, while the Aces netted 45% of their attempts overall, but missed all 5 of their 3-point tries. The Storm outrebounded the Aces 11-7. The Aces, who did not cough up the ball once in the period, scored 6 points off the Storm’s 5 turnovers. Wilson had 14 points and 5 boards, while Loyd led Seattle with 16 points.
Third Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 75, Seattle 67)
Neither team strung together more than 5 points in a row until the final minutes of the quarter. With the Aces lead cut to 69-62, Young connected on a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute to put Las Vegas up 75-67 with 10 minutes to play. Young led all scorers in the frame with 12 points, while Wilson had 9. Loyd scored 8 for Seattle. The Aces made 44.4% of their field goals, including 41.7% (5-12 3FGs) from afar and the Storm shot 47.1% from the field and 60% (3-5 3FGs) from behind the arc. After committing just 1 turnover in the first half, the Aces gave up 6 points on 5 miscues and were unable to convert any of the Storm’s 4 turnovers into points.
Fourth Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 103, Seattle 77)
Including Young’s 6 points to end the third quarter, the Aces strung together 13 unanswered to go up 82-67 with 7:58 to play and continued to roll through the game’s close, outscoring Seattle 28-10 in the final frame. Plum recorded 11 points and 4 assists, while Clark had 9. The Aces nailed 60% of their shots from the field, 42.9% from 3-point range and made all 7 of their free throw attempts. The Storm were held to 29.4% of their field goal attempts, including 0 of 4 from distance. The Aces scored 11 points on Seattle’s 6 turnovers and gave up just 2 points off their own miscues.
KEY STATS
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The Aces made 46.7 percent of their shots from the field, while Seattle made 39.7 percent of theirs.
The Aces went 23 of 25 from the charity stripe, while the Storm made 14 of 17 attempts.
The Aces scored 20 points on the Storm’s 17 turnovers, but gave up just 8 points on their own 8 miscues.
Las Vegas outscored Seattle 44-26 in the paint, and 23-5 on the fast break.
The Las Vegas bench outscored Seattle’s 20-17.
GAME NOTES
A’ja Wilson scored 30 or more points fourth time the season (30 points) 30 points, and the 11th time in her career, setting franchise records in both categories (Wilson, 3, 2018; Hammon, 10, 2007-2012).
A’ja Wilson’s double-double (30 points, 10 rebounds) was the 76th of her career and her 22nd of the season. Her 76 career double-doubles are tied for 10th among all-time WNBA career leaders. Her 22 double-doubles this year are the 3rd most in a season in WNBA history, and the 2nd most of any player this year (Alyssa Thomas, 26).
Wilson’s 17 field goal attempts in the first half are the second-most in a half in franchise history. Wendy Palmer had 20 in her August 16 1997 game in the first half.
Clark scored a season-high 16 points on a career-high-tying 4 made 3-pointers.
Young has now made a 3-pointer in 30-straight games, which is the longest active streak in the league. Plum saw her 30-game streak of 1 or more made 3s come to an end tonight.
With their 18th victory at home this year, the Aces established a new WNBA mark for home wins in a season (Seattle, 17 home wins, 2010).
The Aces committed just 8 turnovers, the 13th time this season they’ve been in single digits for turnovers.
Kiah Stokes grabbed 11 boards, marking the 4th time this season and 38th time in her career she’s grabbed double-digit caroms.
The Aces, who have hit the 90-point mark 25 times this season, scored 100 or more for the 10th time this year to tie the all-time WNBA record for 100-point games in a season (2010 Phoenix Mercury).
Las Vegas continues to lead the league in scoring (92.6 ppg), field goal percentage (.483) 3-point field goal percentage (.374), free throw percentage (.841), scoring differential (+12.3), Offensive Efficiency (112.5) and Defensive Efficiency (97.6),
NEXT UP
The Aces will travel to Phoenix to take on the Mercury on Aug. 8 (7 pm PT on ION) before closing out the regular season by hosting the Mercury on Aug. 10 (12 pm PT on ESPN2) at T-Mobile Arena.