In the WNBA’s lone Wednesday night game, the Las Vegas Aces came away with the 85-79 road win over the Phoenix Mercury. The win improves the Aces’ record to 3-2 while the Mercury drop to 2-3.
The Phoenix Mercury were playing their first game since the announcement that their star guard Diana Taurasi would be out for at least the next four weeks with a sternum fracture.
Jackie Young led the Aces with 27 points on 67% shooting while A’Ja Wilson had 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Chelsea Gray finished with 15 points, nine assists and four rebounds and Liz Cambage recorded 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
The Mercury were led by Britney Griner posted 27 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Skylar Diggins-Smith recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 assists while Shey Peddy came off the bench to score 12 points.
Second-year forward Megan Walker started in place of Diana Taurasi (the first start in her WNBA career), finishing with seven points.
The first quarter saw Britney Griner and A’Ja battle it out, scoring nine and eight points, respectively, ending with both teams tied 20-20. The Las Vegas Aces began to turn the game to their favor in the second quarter, building an eight-point lead with three minutes to go before halftime. The Mercury responded by ending the period on a 13-6 run ending the half down just one point.
The Aces responded to the Mercury’s run to end the second quarter by going on a 7-2 run to go up six points in the first four minutes of the second half. After the Mercury scored five unanswered points to cut the lead to one, both teams would trade baskets back and forth for the remainder of the quarter ending with the Aces leading by two.
The Mercury took the lead from the Las Vegas Aces in the fourth quarter leading for most of the period. With 1:23 remaining in the game, the Mercury led 79-78. In response, the Aces scored seven unanswered points to end the game with the victory.