A’ja Wilson had 27 points, seven rebounds and seven assists Sunday to help the visiting Las Vegas Aces defeat the injury-depleted Toronto Tempo 88-78 in Vancouver.
Jackie Young added 21 points for the Aces (26-13), who have won two in a row.
Reserve Kia Nurse scored 19 points for the Tempo (11-26), who snapped a 12-game losing streak on Friday with a win over the Portland Fire at Vancouver. On Sunday, Kiki Rice added 14 points, Temi Fagbenle scored 13, Isabelle Harrison contributed 12 points and seven rebounds while Laura Juskaite added 11 points.
The Aces took a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter and soon stretched the margin to 16. Mai Yamamoto’s 3-pointer bumped the advantage to 18 with 6:04 to play. Wilson made two free throws to give Las Vegas a 20-point lead with 3:48 to go.
Las Vegas, led by Wilson’s nine points, had a 25-22 advantage after one quarter. Wilson had been listed as questionable before the game because of a back issue.
Wilson’s 20-footer gave Las Vegas a nine-point lead with 4:05 to play in the second quarter. Rice hit a 3-pointer to reduce the margin to six. The Las Vegas lead reached 10 before Toronto ended the first half with a 6-0 burst to cut its deficit to 43-39.
Wilson and Fagbenle each scored 13 points in the first half.
After Toronto cut the lead to two on Harrison’s layup with 7:51 to play in the third quarter, Las Vegas responded with a 9-0 surge to lead by 11 with 5:43 remaining.
Las Vegas starting center NaLyssa Smith was helped off the court with 3:08 to play in the third with a knee injury and did not return. She had eight points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes. The Aces led 66-57 after three quarters.
Guard Julie Allemand (head) did not play in the second half for the Tempo and finished with three points. She was added to the Tempo injury list that includes Marina Mabrey (right adductor), Brittney Sykes (left foot), Aneesah Morrow (left knee), Maria Conde (left calf) and Nyara Sabally (left calf), all of whom did not play on Sunday.
–Field Level Media
