A’JA WILSON POSTS DOMINANT DOUBLE-DOUBLE IN ACES WIN OVER VALKYRIES
A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young combined for 64 points as the Las Vegas Aces edged the visiting Golden State Valkyries 104-102 at home Saturday.
Young (30 points, six assists) drained a pair of free throws with 6.1 seconds remaining to give the Aces (10-11) a four-point lead. Overall, Young scored the final 10 points in the last 1:34 for the Aces, with two field goals and six free throws.
Wilson recorded a double-double of 34 points and 16 rebounds in her return after sitting out Thursday’s loss at the Washington Mystics with a wrist injury. This is Wilson’s third 30/10 game of the season and she also surpassed Swin Cash for 25th on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list.
Janelle Salaun and Tiffany Hayes each finished with 16 points in the loss for the Valkyries (10-10). On the play prior to Young’s final free throws, Hayes made a one-legged 3-pointer off an assist from Salaun to trim the deficit to 102-100 with 7.1 to go.
The Aces and Valkyries each tallied season-highs in points during the shootout. The Aces won despite the Valkyries finishing with 12 threes, double the number of 3-pointers Las Vegas made.
A Chelsea Gray steal and coast-to-coast layup gave the Aces an 83-77 lead in the fourth quarter. After the Valkyries amassed nine 3-pointers in the first half, the Aces didn’t allow any in the third quarter.
The third quarter ended with Jewell Loyd hitting a 3-pointer followed by Kaitlyn Chen responding with a driving buzzer-beating layup and free throw to trim Golden State’s deficit to 76-72.
The Aces trailed by only one at halftime despite being cold from beyond the arc, going 2-of-11. However, Wilson kept the Aces afloat with 25 points (10-of-12 overall) along with a 3-pointer, eight rebounds, a steal and a block in the first half.
Hayes went 3-for-3 on three-pointers in the first half to pace the Valkyries.
The Valkyries are tied for the WNBA lead in rebounds but the Aces were +2 in large part because of Wilson’s dominance on the glass. Another key to the victory was the Aces holding the Valkyries to two fastbreak points.
CHALLENGING ROAD STRETCH BITES LYNX AGAINST SKY
The Chicago Sky held off a second half surge by the Minnesota Lynx Saturday afternoon in Chicago, and a 27-point performance by Ariel Atkins led the home squad to an 87-81 victory over the top team in the WNBA standings.
In her second game back from injury, and first back in the starting lineup, Kamilla Cardoso had 17 points and 15 rebounds while fellow big Angel Reese scored 19 points with 11 rebounds for the forward’s eighth double-double in a row.
The victory for Chicago (7-13) is the first win for the Sky over a team with better than a .500 record in the 2025 regular season.
With 42.9 seconds remaining, Rachel Banham put the game out of the reach of the Lynx (18-4). Minnesota focused their defense on Cardoso and Reese, so Banham exploited space inside and hit a running layup that put the Sky ahead by five points.
On the subsequent possession, Minnesota guard Courtney Williams went up for a three on a defensive switch, but the 6-foot-7 Cardoso blocked the 5-foot-8 guard’s attempt and gave possession back to the Sky.
The Sky used their size all game and outrebounded the Lynx 45-28 and scored 16 more points in the paint than the visitors.
Chicago led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, but Minnesota trimmed it down to a six-point deficit at the end of the quarter and cut it to a single possession When Napheesa Collier nailed a 12-foot jump shot a minute into the fourth.
Collier led the Lynx with 26 points, while Kayla McBride scored 17 and Courtney Williams added 13. They were the only three players on the Lynx roster to hit double-digit scoring with only 11 points coming off the Lynx bench.
Contributing to their trouble, Saturday was the third road game for the Lynx in the span of four days and seventh game overall in 12 days to start July.
The two teams play in Chicago again on Monday night, the third game between the two teams in eight days.
