FSM Essential Recap: Aces vs Liberty - Game 13

FSM Essential Recap: Aces vs. Liberty – Game 13

Franchise Sports Media

Las Vegas Aces (10-3) | New York Liberty (6-6)

 

 

The Las Vegas Aces defeated the New York Liberty on Tuesday night by 22 points, and on Thursday night by 27. It was a route from the second quarter on, and the Aces hung 100 points for the fifth time this season.

 

RECAP:

 

The game plan for the Liberty clearly was to get Betnijah Laney, who’d struggled to find her rhythm two nights ago, off to a good start, and that’s exactly what they did. Laney isolated her way into the post for the game’s opening basket and then followed it up the next possession with a 20-footer. A’ja Wilson got the scoring going on the other end for Las Vegas with a pair of and-one opportunities. Wilson subbed out, and Liz Cambage took over the scoring inside the paint by adding a pair of buckets near the rim to give the Aces an 18-15 lead. Vegas clamped down on the defensive end thanks to a couple of Dearica Hamby steals and held New York scoreless over the final 3:23 of the quarter. The Aces put together an 11-0 run and finished the first quarter with a 22-15 lead.

Laney, once again, provided the scoring for New York to begin the quarter. Her six had momentarily kept the score close before Riquna Williams sunk a couple of three-pointers to give Vegas a 32-21 lead. Williams then cut to the rim for a layup and drained another three to push the lead to 14 points. Reshanda Gray converted on two free throws to end the Aces’ 7-0 run, and she scored an and-one to give the Liberty a little bit of life. However, that energy was momentary. Kelsey Plum scored on back-to-back triples to run the Aces’ lead north of 20 points. The two teams would trade baskets a couple more times before the quarter ended, and Las Vegas went into the half with a 55-34 lead.

New York’s first six points belonged to Betnijah Laney, but Aces’ lead remained 21. Sami Whitcomb and Jazmine Jones cut into the deficit after both knocked down a three-pointer. As the Liberty inched closer, things began to get a little physical between the two teams. Jones picked up a technical foul after a hard foul that she put on Chelsea Gray, and then A’ja Wilson went on to score 10 straight points to put a hold on whatever momentum that New York had built, as the Aces’ lead climbed back to 27 points. Sabrina Ionescu got to the free-throw line, and Rebecca Allen knocked to two three-pointers in the last minute and a half of the third quarter to cut into the Aces’ lead. Las Vegas led 80-57 after three. 

As she did on Tuesday night, Kelsey Plum heated up from behind the three-point line — she hit two at the beginning of the quarter. Rebecca Allen traded threes with Plum as she was the only reliable source of offense for New York over the first half of the final quarter. As is the case with many of these Aces’ victories, much of the fourth quarter was a blowout that featured the reserve players getting some extra minutes. Las Vegas hit the 100-point mark for the second straight game and finished the Liberty off by the score of 103-76.

 

 

POSITIVES:

 

Bench Production – Las Vegas again received outstanding play from its bench. Kelsey Plum, Dearica Hamby, and Ji-Su Park combined for 16 of the team’s 55 first-half points and provided lots of rest for the starters. The bench would finish with 41 of the 103 total points, with 35 coming from the Plum-Hamby-Park trio.

Three-Pointers – New York came into the game as the league’s best three-point shooting team, but it was Las Vegas who’d have the hot-hands from deep this game. In the first half, the Aces made five while the Liberty shot just 2/12 from distance. The Aces finished the game making 11 three-pointers, a season-high for the team.

 

NEGATIVES:

Turnovers – Vegas ended up having 12 turnovers on the night, which is more than their season’s average. Although, only one player had multiple turnovers. If they can clean those up a bit, it’ll be challenging for other teams to compete against them.

Another look at this @Kelseyplum10 dime to @ecambage 🥶 pic.twitter.com/vwhJT2Qnhz

— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) June 18, 2021

 

 

 

The Aces will have a week off before heading to Minnesota to face the Lynx on Friday, June 25th. Tune into Facebook at 5:00 p.m. PST to follow the action live, and make sure to catch the next recap here at Franchise Sports Media.

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