Jewell Loyd established season highs of 27 points and seven 3-pointers off the bench and the Las Vegas Aces rebounded from a horrifying loss one day earlier to rout the visiting Golden State Valkyries 101-77 on Sunday.
Jackie Young recorded 20 points and eight assists and A’ja Wilson added 14 points, 14 rebounds and four steals to help Las Vegas (15-14) move forward after being pounded 111-58 by the Minnesota Lynx for the second-worst loss in WNBA history.
Chelsea Gray had 11 points, six assists and five rebounds as the Aces led by as many as 28 points in the first of a home-and-home between the teams. The rematch is Wednesday in San Francisco.
Iliana Rupert scored a season-high 17 points as the Valkyries (14-14) had a three-game winning streak halted. Golden State finished 3-2 on a five-game road trip.
Laeticia Amihere had 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench and Carla Leite also scored 14 for the Valkyries. Kaila Charles added 13 points.
Golden State again played without Monique Billings (ankle), Tiffany Hayes (ankle) and Cecilia Zandalasini (foot); the attrition continued when Janelle Salaun was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul in the final seconds of the first half for knocking Loyd to the floor away from the play.
Earlier this season, the Valkyries lost All-Star Kayla Thornton to a season-ending knee injury.
The Aces shot 46.1 percent from the field, including 18 of 40 from 3-point range. Loyd was 7 of 11 from long distance, tying a franchise mark for made 3-pointers.
Golden State made just 34.2 percent of its field-goal attempts and was 10 of 34 from behind the arc.
Las Vegas took control by scoring 20 of the final 27 points in the first quarter for a 27-14 lead.
A three-point play by Wilson pushed the advantage to 43-22 with 2:31 left in the half. The score was 50-25 at halftime.
Loyd made three first-half 3-pointers and had 13 points at the break.
Then she turned her shooting into overdrive late in the third quarter when she buried three treys in 84 seconds to boost the lead to 76-48 with 31 seconds to play. The score was 76-50 entering the fourth quarter.
Loyd achieved her season high by hitting trey No. 7 with 7:03 remaining in the game. Her career high is nine.
–Field Level Media
