Jewell Loyd and Jackie Young each had 15 points and the Las Vegas Aces made 15 3-pointers while extending their franchise-record winning streak to 15 games with 92-61 victory over the visiting Chicago Sky on Tuesday.
Loyd came off the bench to hit five of those treys while surpassing the 6,000-point mark for her career. Dana Evans (13 points) made three 3-pointers for the Aces (29-14), who shot 51.7 percent from beyond the arc en route to matching the 1998 Houston Comets for the third-longest winning streak in WNBA history.
The only longer streaks were 18 games by the 2001 Los Angeles Sparks and 16 games by the 2014 Phoenix Mercury.
Las Vegas, aiming for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, needed only 11 points from star A’ja Wilson, who scored at least 30 in each of the previous three contests. The Aces completed a three-game season series sweep from Chicago (10-33), which played a third consecutive game without star Angel Reese (suspensions/back injury).
Las Vegas would clinch the No. 2 seed in the playoffs with a win in their finale against the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday. The Aces are tied with the Atlanta Dream (29-14), but Las Vegas holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Kamilla Cardoso had 13 points with 13 rebounds for the Sky, who have lost three straight and 20 of the past 23. Michaela Onyenwere also put up 13 points.
Las Vegas led 46-38 early in the third quarter before breaking things open by scoring 11 consecutive points. Loyd, a Chicago-area native, hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Young eventually followed with a bucket from long distance to cap the surge.
The Aces shot 10-for-16 from the field and made 5 of 9 3-point attempts to lead 28-14 after the first period.
However, the Sky didn’t fold and used a 10-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back treys from Onyenwere and Rebecca Allen, to get within 37-33 late in the second quarter. The Aces scored six of the final eight points of the first half to lead 43-35.
Chicago’s Ariel Atkins (13.1 ppg) missed her second consecutive contest due to a back issue.
–Field Level Media
