A’ja Wilson collects first profession 20-20 recreation in Aces’ win

A’ja Wilson recorded her first career 20-20 game and Jackie Young scored 17 of her team-high 27 points in the third quarter Wednesday as the Las Vegas Aces rallied from a six-point halftime deficit for an 84-79 win over the host Seattle Storm.

Wilson added 24 points and a career-high 20 rebounds for Las Vegas (14-7), which won for the eighth time in nine games. Wilson thrived despite missing a short stretch of the third quarter after an inadvertent elbow bloodied her nose. Kelsey Plum chipped in 13 points and Chelsea Gray netted 11.

Jewell Loyd scored a game-high 28 points for Seattle (14-8), which lost for only the second time in seven games. Skylar Diggins-Smith added 16 points and eight assists, while Ezi Magbegor contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Storm pulled within 82-79 on three foul shots by Loyd with 45 seconds remaining and then forced a miss to regain the ball. They had two chances to tie the game on their next-to-last possession, but Nneka Ogwumike and Loyd each missed 3-pointers. Wilson grabbed a rebound and sealed the outcome by making two foul shots with 2.3 seconds left.

The teams’ third matchup of the season was controlled in the first half by Seattle’s defense. The unusual part was that it didn’t do so in its normal fashion — via steals and blocked shots — but by forcing one miss after another.

Las Vegas made only 6 of 22 shots in the first quarter and trailed 17-13, then fell behind 28-20 at the 6:22 mark of the second period when Loyd tossed in a 3-pointer. Loyd sank two foul shots with 3.4 seconds remaining in the half for a 36-30 Storm lead at the break.

But the game turned in the third quarter as the Aces rode Young’s hot hand. Young accounted for 10 points in less than three minutes, giving them the lead for good on a 3-pointer with 4:32 left, and led them to a 60-55 edge going to the fourth period.

–Field Level Media