New York Liberty beat the Las Vegas Aces 87-78 as A’ja Wilson exits with injury

NEW YORK (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu scored 28 points to lead the New York Liberty to an 87-78 victory Tuesday night over the Las Vegas Aces, who lost star A’ja Wilson to a right wrist injury in the first half.

Wilson went down hard halfway through the second quarter and spent several minutes on the ground surrounded by her teammates. She sustained an injury to her right wrist and did not return to the game, reappearing on the bench in the third quarter with the wrist wrapped.

With the game tied at 72, New York (13-6) scored the next eight points, led by Ionescu, who finished with eight assists and eight rebounds. Las Vegas’ last basket of the game came with 5:41 left. New York hit its free throws down the stretch to close out the win.

The Liberty held on to a thin lead for much of the first half, led by Ionescu’s 10 points and recently-returned Leonie Fiebich with eight points in the half. Their lead grew to nine at its widest point, but the Aces (9-10) stayed close and a last minute layup from Jackie Young gave them a 42-40 lead heading into halftime.

Young led scoring for Las Vegas with 19 points, followed by NaLyssa Smith and Chelsea Gray with 11 each.

The Liberty were facing some injury issues of their own. Starter Natasha Cloud did not play after suffering a left hip injury against Seattle on Sunday, while starter Jonquel Jones and Isabelle Harrison remain sidelined with their respective ankle and knee injuries.

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