Las Vegas Aces Rally To Beat Chicago Sky

A’ja Wilson and Kayla McBride lead the way to Vegas’ 7th win

The Las Vegas Aces (7–12) beat the Chicago Sky (6–12) to move into ninth place in the WNBA, putting them within shouting distance of the 8th seed and a playoff berth. The Aces’ dynamic duo of A’ja Wilson and Kayla McBride led the way to the 84–80 victory, combining for 52 points. McBride also chipped in a season-high of seven assists as nine different Vegas players scored.

The Sky focused on playing a fast-paced game with a heavy diet of 3-pointers and, early on, it was working. Chicago was 7–11 on threes in the first half but made just one three in the second half and that one was with 12 seconds left to cut the Vegas lead down to 4. Allie Quigley led the Sky in scoring with 13 points and Cheyenne Parker pulled down nine rebounds.

Chicago seemed in control through the first half, carrying a 2 point lead into the half, but never rallied after a third quarter that left them down 2. The Sky’s early hot play created problems for the Aces, which led to 7 made threes in the first half. For Chicago, the three-ball was the recipe to beat Las Vegas; the Aces allow 7.93 PM/G, the most in the WNBA, and Chicago averages 38.1% on their 3-point attempts.

After the three-ball dried up for Chicago, they failed to generate any kind of consistent offense, despite the Sky bench holding a 33–13 advantage over the Aces’ bench. Much of that was due to the 18 turnovers that Vegas forced with 10 steals and 8 blocks. Chicago only forced the Aces into 10 turnovers and got out-rebounded 40–35 by Vegas.

Defensively for the Aces, they were playing with an intensity that reflected what Coach Bill Laimbeer had stressed. A’ja Wilson held a block party, blocking 7 shots, more than the entire Sky team combined. Tamera Young added 4 steals and Kayla McBride had 3 of her own. The Vegas defense was swarming in the paint and disrupting much of the Chicago offense.

Whereas the Sky had a balanced team attack, the Aces, once again, went the way of A’ja Wilson and Kayla McBride. Every starter had a positive +/-, but the bench players were an overall negative, with only Nia Coffey posting a positive mark of +2. The Aces are heavily reliant on their starters, to an extent that one almost needs to be on the court at all times.

There was a scary moment early in the second quarter as Chicago lost center Astou Ndour to an ugly looking ankle injury. Ndour went landed awkwardly, hitting another player’s foot, after making her second three of the game and exited the game without returning. Ndour had 8 points on 3–4 shooting (2–2 from 3) in just five minutes of action.

The Las Vegas Aces next play on Saturday, July 8th against the Connecticut Sun (10–8) in Las Vegas.

The Chicago Sky head home to face the Minnesota Lynx (11–7) on July 8th.