Aces get their sixth straight win over Phoenix on Friday

On Friday, August 15 the Las Vegas Aces (19-14) took on the Phoenix Mercury (19-12) at the PHX arena.

In the first quarter, the Mercury controlled the opening tip.

The Aces got the looks but couldn’t quite connect with the basket. A’ja Wilson got the Aces on the board with a turnaround jumper. At the 4:43 mark, the Mercury led the Aces 9-5.

The Aces ended the quarter tied, 15-15 with the Mercury. Chelsea Gray made two free-throws in the closing seconds of the quarter. The Mercury out rebounded the Aces 3-2.

In the second quarter, the Aces tried to get something going on both sides of the ball. The momentum shifted with 5:33 to go in the second quarter when a technical foul was called against DeWanna Bonner.

The Aces came clawing back in the second quarter. Jackie Young and A’ja Wilson continued to be aggressive on the offensive end. Chelsea Gray made it to the line in the closing seconds to pull the Aces to within one of the Mercury, 42-41.

In the third quarter, the Aces started off strong took back-to-back trips to the line to give the Aces a 45-42 lead.

The energy was high for both teams in the second half as the Aces held a slight 51-46 lead over the Mercury. Jackie Young hit a monster shot to give the Aces a 10-point lead with 3:54 to go in the quarter.

With 2:00 to go in the third quarter the Aces’ lead started slowly slipping away. The Aces managed to hold on to a slim 60-59 lead to lose out the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, it became a shootout of sorts between the two teams.

In the post-game presser, Aces coach Becky Hammon gave high praise as to how her group handled the closing seconds of the game.

Hammon said, “That starting five that’s right there with Jewell [Loyd], with Kiah [Stokes] coming in, Kiah is somebody that I trust defensively. Just knowing what to do, what we’re expecting, so she was big on the ball, just trying to take away vision of Satou’s [Sabally] on that sideline out of bounds play.”

A’ja Wilson scored 30 points and 16 rebounds to close out this game, while Jackie Young added 17 points.

The Aces pulled out their sixth straight win, 86-83.

The Aces head back home to take on the Dallas Wings on Sunday, April 17. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:30pm PT. The game will air nationally on ABC.