A’ja Wilson recorded 23 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots to help the Las Vegas Aces notch a 79-63 victory over the host Seattle Storm on Thursday night.
Jackie Young added 22 points and eight rebounds and Kelsey Plum had 20 points and six assists as Las Vegas won its fourth straight game. The Aces (20-2) also tied the 1998 Houston Comets and 2016 Los Angeles Sparks for the best 22-game starts in WNBA history.
Las Vegas is 3-0 against Seattle this season, winning by an average of 30 points.
Jewell Loyd scored a season-low 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting for the Storm (4-17). Loyd entered the contest with a league-best 25.7 scoring average.
Ezi Magbegor had 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots, and Jordan Horston added 11 points for Seattle, which lost its eighth straight game. The Storm fell to 2-10 at home.
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Las Vegas shot 43.9 percent from the field and was 7 of 18 from 3-point range.
Seattle shot 38.7 percent, including 7 of 26 from 3-point range.
Las Vegas led by 11 at halftime then used an 8-0 run early in the half to take a 47-30 lead. Young hit two treys during the run and Plum capped it with a layup with 8:04 left in the third quarter.
The Aces had another 8-0 burst later in the quarter as Young nailed a trey, Wilson converted a layup and Alysha Clark hit a 3-pointer to make it 60-36 with 3:09 left in the period.
Seattle exploded with a 19-2 burst, however, including a quarter-ending 10-2 burst. Loyd ended the third quarter with a 3-pointer with 55.8 seconds remaining to bring the Storm within 62-46.
Seattle continued its run with nine straight points to open the final stanza. Horston scored four in a row, Mercedes Russell made a layup and Sami Whitcomb buried a 3-pointer to bring Seattle within 62-55 with 6:36 remaining.
But Plum and Young made baskets 24 seconds apart as Las Vegas pushed the lead back into double digits.
Wilson’s basket with 3:03 left gave the Aces a 74-59 lead en route to closing out the win.
Young and Plum each scored 11 first-half points as the Aces led 39-28 at the break.
(This news is published through a syndicated feed courtesy SportsStar – The Hindu)
