A’ja Wilson dropped her 10th 30-point, 10-rebound performance of the season and the Las Vegas Aces extended their winning streak to 14 games by defeating the visiting Chicago Sky 80-66 on Sunday night.
Vying for her fourth WNBA Most Valuable Player award in eight seasons, Wilson posted a final line of 31 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and three blocks as she continued to propel the white-hot Aces (28-14). Wilson scored 12 straight Las Vegas points during the third quarter to help break the game open.
Jackie Young had 20 points with nine assists, Chelsea Gray scored 13 and the Aces converted 19 Chicago turnovers into 22 points.
After the Sky suspended Angel Reese for one half of the Aces game due to comments they deemed detrimental to the team, Reese did not enter in the second half. The Sky then announced that she wouldn’t play due to a back injury.
All five starters for the Sky (10-32) scored in double figures: 12 for Michaela Onyenwere and Rachel Banham, and 10 apiece for Kamilla Cardoso, Elizabeth Williams and Sevgi Uzun. Cardoso added 15 rebounds, seven on offense.
The Aces scored the first 11 points of the game before the Sky started catching up. Cardoso made consecutive 2-pointers to trim the margin to 16-10, but Wilson answered with a pair of buckets. Dana Evans drove for a layup with 24.2 seconds left to make it 24-15 Aces after one period.
Wilson had a three-point play and Gray hit a triple as the Aces grew their lead to 16 points before Onyenwere’s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left brought it to 43-30 at halftime.
Cardoso already had notched her double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) by that point, while Wilson had racked up 15 points and four steals for Las Vegas.
Wilson continued to dominate in the third quarter. She drilled two 3-pointers assisted by Young, the latter making it 53-38 with 5:37 left. Wilson added another four points before Gray and Jewell Loyd hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 65-40 margin. Young got in on the act with a driving layup and a 3-pointer of her own.
Las Vegas led 70-50 after the third and cruised from there.
–Field Level Media
