A’ja Wilson poured in a season-high 37 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help the Las Vegas Aces hold on for a 90-86 win over the Dallas Wings on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas.
The Aces (11-11) led by six points at halftime and expanded that advantage to 20 after three quarters as Dallas was held to 4-of-20 shooting in the period. Wilson scored nine points in the quarter and had 21 of her points in the second and third period combined as Las Vegas outscored the Wings 50-30 over the middle two quarters.
Dallas got back in the game by scoring nine of the first 10 points in the fourth quarter. The Wings trimmed their deficit to two points after Paige Bueckers’ floater with 27 seconds left, but Wilson responded with a layup with 23.9 seconds to play. Chelsea Gray then canned a pair of free throws with 8.4 seconds remaining to cap the victory.
Jewell Loyd added 14 points and Aaliyah Nye had 13 off the bench for Las Vegas, which has won two straight games and is back to the .500 level for the first time since July 6.
Bueckers led Dallas (6-17) with 20 points and eight assists while JJ Quinerly scored 17, Luisa Geiselsoder hit for 14, Haley Jones added 12 and Li Yueru finished with 10. The Wings dropped their fourth consecutive outing and remain in the cellar of the Western Conference.
The game was tied at 22 after the first 10 minutes of play. The Aces quickly moved ahead early in the second quarter and pushed their lead to 39-34 on a basket by Loyd nearly six minutes into the period. Wilson’s jumper with 5.7 seconds left stoked Las Vegas’ advantage to eight points before a layup by Quinerly allowed the Wings to cull their deficit to 47-41 at the break.
Wilson’s 20 points before halftime led all scorers while Geiselsoder paced Dallas with 14 points.
Nye’s 3-pointer at the 4:01 mark of the third quarter expanded the Aces’ lead to 61-48. Wilson knocked down a pair of free throws and a jumper, and Nye followed with another 3-pointer with 1:45 left in the third for a 68-48 margin as Las Vegas built a 72-52 advantage heading into the final quarter.
–Field Level Media
