A’ja Wilson scored 21 of her 34 points in the first half as the Las Vegas Aces dominated the first 20 minutes and routed the host Phoenix Mercury 100-82 Thursday night to close out the regular season.
With the win, Las Vegas (31-13) had a chance at the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, but the Valkyries’ come-from-behind, 76-75 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks that went final just minutes later kept the Aces in the No. 3 spot with the Valkyries (32-12) getting the 2.
Las Vegas, on a seven-game winning streak, will open the postseason at home Sunday against the No. 6 seed Indiana Fever.
Phoenix (16-28) ended its season losing 10 of its last 15 games, with six of those losses at home.
Jewell Loyd had 25 points off the bench for Las Vegas.
Stephanie Talbot added 14 points and Chelsea Gray 12 (six in the fourth quarter).
The Mercury were led by Kahleah Copper’s 18 points.
Las Vegas scored the first 14 points of the game after Phoenix missed its first four field-goal attempts while committing seven turnovers.
Wilson had eight points of the Aces’ first 11 points.
She had 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field in the first quarter, leading Las Vegas to a 32-18 advantage.
Phoenix shot well in the first quarter (8 of 16 from the field) but its 10 turnovers led to a dozen Las Vegas points.
The Aces went on a 16-2 run to open a 59-28 lead with 3:31 left in the second quarter.
Las Vegas led 65-36 at halftime behind 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field by Wilson and 17 points (6 of 8 shooting from the field, 3 of 4 from 3-point range) by Loyd.
Phoenix went on an 11-0 run to open the second half, cutting the lead to 65-47 with 6:33 remaining in the third quarter.
An 11-3 run by the Mercury in the fourth quarter made the deficit 87-78 with 4:47 left. That was as close as Phoenix got.
–Field Level Media
