FSM Essential Recap: Aces vs Wings - Game 12 - 2022

FSM Essential Recap: Aces vs Sun – Game 12 – 2022

Franchise Sports Media

Las Vegas Aces (10-2)  |  Dallas Wings (6-5)

 

 

The Las Vegas Aces’ got back in the win column on Sunday afternoon with an 84-78 win over the Dallas Wings.

 

The Aces’ depth was in question heading into Sunday’s Commissioner’s Cup matchup with the Dallas Wings following Thursday’s losses to the Connecticut Sun. Yes, losses being plural, because the scoreboard was hardly the only thing that didn’t break in Las Vegas’ favor — both Jackie Young (ankle) and Chelsea Gray (lip laceration) left the game with injuries and didn’t return.

But those questions received answers, at least for the moment.

Chelsea Gray returned for the showdown with the Wings, but Young stayed sidelined for Sunday’s game, joining Riquna Williams as important guards who were out with lower extremity injuries. Such absences caused the Aces to change their starting lineup for the first time all season, with Teresa Plaisance getting the starting gig and a few members from the end of the bench hearing their numbers called in what ultimately became an 84-78 grind-it-out win for Las Vegas to close the weekend. 

“I thought everyone that got on the floor tonight battled,” said Hammon following the win. “Like I said, we were down two people, basically, because A’ja didn’t play (much) because of foul trouble. It was just the next person up.”

Kelsey Plum dropped a career-high-tying 32 points and played all 40 minutes on Sunday. Outside of her production, no one dominated the game in any particular way. Gray did have 18 points, and as stated previously, Wilson dealt with foul trouble and only scored eight points before fouling out after 24 minutes of play. It was a subpar performance by the squad in which they had to overcome a lot of hurdles — player availability being one and surviving an Arike Ogunbowale explosion being another.

“She (Ogunbowale) got away from us there in that third quarter, but other than that, I thought overall the ladies did a good job,” said Hammon. “It was Dearica primarily, but everyone else was really locked in. It’s a team effort every time you try to stop someone of her caliber offensively.”

 

And undoubtedly, the biggest hurdle, though, was being able to bend on the glass without breaking. Dallas entered as the third-best offensive rebounding team in the WNBA (10.0 per game), and it’s 19 on Sunday put them in a tie for first (10.8) after the day.

“Giving up so many offensive rebounds, we were able to pull out the stops somehow,” said Hammon on her team’s performance on the glass. “For them to only get ten second-chance points, that was fortunate for us because when you get pounded on the glass like that, generally you’re walking out with an L. I didn’t like the rebounding thing, but other than that, I thought we dug in and found a way to win.”

The Aces did find a way to beat Dallas for the ninth consecutive time, and the win moved the team to 10-2 on the year with a hold on first place in the standings.

 

 

TOP PERFORMERS:

Kelsey Plum (Aces) – 32 PTS, 4 REBS, 5 ASTS, 4/11 3PT

Chelsea Gray (Aces) – 18 PTS, 5 REBS, 4 ASTS, 1/4 3PT

Allisha Gray (Wings) – 24 PTS, 9 REBS, 4/8 3PT

Arike Ogunbowale (Wings) – 21 PTS, 7 REBS, 3 ASTS, 3/15 3PT

 

Las Vegas will get five days off before taking on the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday, June 11th. You can follow this one live on Facebook before checking back with us after the game for a recap and analysis.

Aces vs Wings               Aces vs Wings             Aces vs Wings             Aces vs Wings             Aces vs Wings             Aces vs Wings                                                

-Cole Huff– Franchise Sports Media