A’ja Wilson scored 33 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to lead the Las Vegas Aces to an 84-70 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Friday in College Park, Ga.
Wilson, who added five blocked shots and three steals, was coming off her first career 20-point, 20-rebound game. Jackie Young added 19 points and Kelsey Plum had 15 points and seven assists the Aces (15-7), who won for the ninth time in 10 games.
Cheyenne Parker-Tyus had 17 points and seven rebounds, Maya Caldwell scored 13, Tina Charles had 12 points and 12 rebounds and Allisha Gray amassed 11 points and seven rebounds for the Dream (7-15), who lost their sixth consecutive game.
Wilson scored six of the Aces’ first seven points of the third quarter as the visitors opened a 51-34 lead.
Destanni Henderson, Gray and Caldwell made consecutive baskets to get the Dream within 11. Plum had two points and an assists to help Las Vegas rebuild the lead to 57-40.
The Aces went scoreless for the final four minutes of the quarter and Henderson had a field goal and two assists during a closing 7-0 run that got Atlanta within 57-47 at the end of the period.
Kate Martin made a pair of 3-pointers for Las Vegas’ first points of the fourth quarter as the lead grew to 12 points. The Dream got within 10 points twice before Young’s 3-pointer pushed the margin to 68-55 midway through the period.
Atlanta crept within eight points with three minutes remaining, but Wilson answered with a basket and Young followed with a 3-pointer to put the Aces in command.
Young had five points as the Aces jumped to an 8-0 lead. Caldwell’s field goal ended the Dream’s scoring drought after 3 1/2 minutes.
Atlanta got as close as three points before Las Vegas took a 20-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Parker-Tyus had six points and the Dream scored the first eight points of the second quarter to grab a three-point advantage. Wilson made a 3-pointer to tie the score before Atlanta grabbed the lead twice more, then went cold.
Wilson made two 3-pointers before Plum had five straight points to start a closing 12-0 run that left the Aces with a 44-30 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media