The WNBA’s hottest team will face a club coming off a cold spell when the Las Vegas Aces visit the Washington Mystics on Saturday afternoon.
The Aces (23-14) will look to extend their winning streak to 10 games when they open a three-game road trip.
The Mystics (16-20) lost 67-56 on Thursday to the Connecticut Sun, while Las Vegas was an 83-61 winner against the Phoenix Mercury.
Las Vegas will try to avenge 94-83 and 70-68 losses to the Mystics earlier this season.
The Aces have received huge outings from A’ja Wilson, who has led the team in scoring and rebounding in each of the past three games. She’s averaging 22.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
Yet depth has been on display for the Aces, who have been benefiting from numerous contributors.
“We have a lot of faith in our bench,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said. “We have a lot of solid pieces, and pieces that can hurt you in a lot of different ways.”
Dana Evans scored 17 points off the bench Thursday night for Las Vegas.
“She’s aggressive constantly,” Hammon said. “Her ability to change up gears offensively and defensively gives us a different look. That’s why I’m always telling her to be herself and be aggressive and attack.”
Washington had unusual offensive glitches against the Sun, eclipsing the 15-point mark for a quarter only in the third against one of the league’s worst teams. The Mystics have lost two straight — both against Connecticut.
“For two games we’ve struggled,” Washington coach Sydney Johnson said. “We’ll get back to it but got to learn from it.”
There’s little time to waste with back-to-back games on the weekend.
“We’re reacting to those adjustments a little bit too late,” rookie Kiki Iriafen said. “Going into this last stretch of games we’ve got to turn it up.”
The Mystics have won only three of their last 10 games. A rookie has led the team in scoring for 11 games in a row, including Sonia Citron for the last five games.
Iriafen has been Washington’s top rebounder for nine consecutive games. She has 13 double-doubles this season.
Citron has connected on at least one 3-point shot in 11 consecutive games. That’s tied for the longest active streak in the WNBA with guard Jewell Loyd of Las Vegas.
–Field Level Media
