A’ja Wilson scores 32 points as the Aces beat the Wings 99-84 to avoid a sweep

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A’ja Wilson scored 32 points and the Las Vegas Aces led nearly throughout to avoid being swept by Dallas with a 99-84 victory over the Wings on Thursday night.

Chelsea Gray finished with 12 points and nine assists for the Aces, becoming the fourth player in WNBA history with at least 4,500 points and 2,000 assists for her career. She has 2,003 assists.

Jackie Young added 20 points, including a four-point play in the third quarter, and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus totaled 13 points.

Paige Bueckers scored 25 points for the Wings, and Jessica Sheppard had 22 points and 14 rebounds.

The Wings were looking for their first sweep of the Aces since 2018 after winning the first two, both at Dallas. Their most recent victory over Las Vegas was a 96-66 rout on June 15.

The Aces sent a message early this matchup would be quite different. They went on a 10-point run to take a 15-4 lead and led 28-17 after the first quarter.

“We came in with the focus to kick their butts,” Parker-Tyus told NBA TV after the quarter.

Las Vegas, which made 53.3% of its shots, went ahead by as many as 17 points. But Dallas kept chipping away and got to within 53-49 early in the third quarter.

The Wings, who were 2 of 21 from the 3-point arc, got no closer. Dallas didn’t get many second chances, with the Aces winning the rebounding battle 35-24.

The Aces have won nine of their past 11 games, but were coming off an 87-76 loss to New York on Tuesday night.

Up next

Wings: Host Minnesota on Sunday.

Aces: At Chicago on Sunday.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball