Aces close homestand on high note by beating WNBA’s-best Sun by double-figures

Las Vegas forward A'ja Wilson conducts a postgame interview after a win against Connecticut. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

Las Vegas buckled down and may have found its championship merit and grit from the previous two seasons in perhaps the team’s toughest homestand of the season.

The Aces used a late push to fight off the Connecticut Sun, 85-74, Friday, June 21 from the Michelob Ultra Arena in a rematch of the 2022 WNBA Finals. Entering play, Connecticut came in with a 13-1 overall record which led the league to go along with a perfect 5-0 record away from the Mohegan Sun Arena.

Coming into the homestand, Las Vegas opponents had a combined record of 31-7.

“We obviously had some good moments,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “We had some lapses too. We’re going to keep just building and hopefully more of those good moments ahead while minimizing mistakes.”

Sitting in the middle of the league with a 8-6 overall record, the Aces will return to the road for two games. That trip starts with a Thursday, Jun 27 meeting against the Chicago Sky from Wintrust Arena.

Losses teach you a lot of lessons,” forward A’ja Wilson said. “It brings out a lot of stuff because winning disguises a lot of stuff. The biggest thing that came out of our losses was we just didn’t want it.”

In just her second game back from injury, guard Chelsea Gray’s presence to close the third quarter helped Las Vegas regain control of the game. At the 4:03-mark of the third quarter, she’d enter with the team up seven before going 9-3 to close the frame and 18-7 to eventually run the lead back to 18.

During that run, she’d make her first field goal of the season much to the delight of the crowd inside “The House.”

“I know a lot of people love her fancy passing and that’s great but Chelsea gets us organized,” Wilson said. “She gets us in a great flow and in a system that we’re very comfortable and used to. She makes sure that the right people are getting the ball at the right time and that doesn’t necessarily have to come from her.”

Prior to that run for the home team, Connecticut had gone 19-9 coming out of halftime to trim the lead to seven after finding themselves down big early. Behind hot shooting, Las Vegas raced out to its near 20-point lead on the heels of a 15-2 run in the second quarter.

Aces guards Chelsea Gray prepares to throw a chest pass against the Sun from Michelob Ultra Arena. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

In the game’s opening frame, the Aces wouldn’t snag its first lead until there was less than a minute remaining on the clock. Another spurt, this time an 11-3 edge, helped set the table for the game-changing stretch.

It took nearly four minutes for the team to log its first field goal of the game after six straight misses to start.

“It starts on the defensive end,” Hammon said. “We’re building to that right now to where I know we’re going to get a solid defensive effort. We’re still a work in progress, we know we still have a long way to go.”

Wilson found herself more than halfway to a double-double after playing the entire first quarter and recording six points and five rebounds. By halftime, herself and teammate Kiah Stokes combined for 17 rebounds which was two more than Connecticut as a whole in the first half.

As a team, Las Vegas would win the rebounding battle, 42-29.

Las Vegas forward Kiah Stokes attempts a corner three during the team's win over Connecticut Friday night. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

“That’s definitely one of the things we talked about,” Stokes said. “This Connecticut team they rebound, they’re physical. We just had to keep them off the boards so for to outrebound them is pretty cool.”

Wilson made more history as she closed the night with 19 straight 20-point regular season games which is the most in WNBA history. She posted 26 points and 16 rebounds which ties her career-high.

“She’s a beast,” Hammon said. “She just always does it the right way. How much more can I get out of her? I don’t know. I didn’t take her out in the second half until late, she’s really getting in great shape. You’re starting to see her be really engaged and locked in.”

Guard Kelsey Plum added 18 points with three made three-pointers and four assists.

Forward Alysha Clark was the final Ace in double-figures with 11 points and the other three made threes for the team during a 6-for-24 night from beyond the arc.

“I think you’re starting to see glimpses of us,” Hammon said. “For the most part, I thought we had some really good stretches there. It’s just about being sharp for the whole 40 [minutes]. We’re getting there.”