Jackie Young and A’ja Wilson combined for 44 points as the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces continued their early season roll with a 94-73 victory against the visiting Minnesota Lynx on Sunday night.
Young scored 23 points and Wilson had 21, while Chelsea Gray added 19 points and 10 assists and Kelsey Plum and Alysha Clark scored 11 points apiece. The Aces (4-0), who were completing a back-to-back set after a 93-65 home victory against the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday, have won their first four games by an average of 24.8 points.
Napheesa Collier had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Tiffany Mitchell scored 16 points, Diamond Miller had 14 and Rachel Banham scored 12 to lead the winless Lynx (0-4).
Minnesota scored the first four points of the third quarter to get within eight points but couldn’t get any closer.
Young made three 3-pointers and Plum added two points and three assists as Las Vegas expanded its lead to 73-53 at the end of the third quarter.
The Lynx began the fourth quarter with a 7-1 run to get within 14 points, but the Aces scored the next four points to regain command.
Collier, the Lynx’s leading scorer who had just eight points in a 90-81 loss at Phoenix on Thursday, had seven points as Minnesota took a 10-9 lead.
Wilson made layups to start and end a 9-0 run that gave Las Vegas an 18-10 lead. The Aces led by as many as 12 points before the Lynx scored the final five points to trim the lead to 24-17 at the end of the first quarter.
Young scored five points to help Las Vegas score the first seven points of the second quarter and open a 14-point lead.
Mitchell had seven points to help Minnesota close within 36-28, but Plum scored five points and Wilson made two free throws that gave the Aces a 50-38 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media