Jackie Young scored 23 points and dished eight assists, A’ja Wilson scored 27 points, and the Las Vegas Aces led almost the entire way in their 93-73 rout of the visiting Toronto Tempo on Friday.
Las Vegas (27-13) took the lead for good just three minutes into the contest, coming on one of Young’s four made 3-pointers. Although the Aces shot just 10-of-33 from long range as a team, they came out red-hot from downtown to deluge Toronto (11-28).
Young made three of her 3-pointers in the game’s opening minutes, and Jewell Loyd knocked down another a little more than six minutes into the contest.
After the opening salvo of triples, Las Vegas asserted its dominance both on the interior and defensively.
Wilson, continuing her push for an unprecedented fifth Most Valuable Player Award, shot 10-of-15 from inside the arc to key the Aces’ 36-28 advantage for points in the paint. Wilson also grabbed a game-high matching eight rebounds.
Attacking the rim also helped Wilson and Young get to the free-throw line for seven made foul shots on eight attempts each, the two getting to the charity stripe almost as much individually as Toronto managed as a team (9-of-13).
The Tempo matched Las Vegas from long range, going 10-of-28 behind Kia Nurse’s 4-of-8 performance. But compounding its difficulty creating scoring attempts inside or drawing fouls, Toronto committed 16 turnovers.
The Aces converted takeaways into transitional scoring opportunities and a whopping 18-2 edge in points off of turnovers. Chelsea Gray led the aggressive Las Vegas defense with four steals.
Gray also added 11 points in the romp, which sends the Aces into the FIBA World Cup break on a high note.
Toronto, meanwhile, closes out a three-game Western road swing before the break with a visit to Phoenix. Friday’s loss marked the Tempo’s 15th in the last 16 games.
Isabelle Harrison led five Toronto scorers in double-figures with 15 points. Laura Juskaite scored 14 points, and Nurse recorded all 12 of her points from beyond the arc. Kiki Rice and Kiana Williams each added 10 points.
–Field Level Media
