Photo: A’ja Wilson by Lorie Shaull is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
The Las Vegas Aces picked up their third win of the season on Wednesday as the team defeated the Washington Mystics 83-77.
The leading scorers for the Aces were A’ja Wilson and Danielle Robinson who each scored 20 points in the game.
Dearica Hamby had a double-double in Las Vegas’s win with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Two other Ace players would hit double figures in points in the game which they were Kayla McBride (14) and Angel McCoughtry (13).
Las Vegas had the advantage of rebounds in the game with the team having 38 and Mystics collecting 30.
The Aces also had the advantage of shooting as well, as the team shot 49.1% (28-57) and Washington shot 41.9% (31-74). Las Vegas also had the advantage over the Mystics at the three-point line as the team shot 40.0% (4-10) and Washington shot 30.8 (8-26). The Aces also bested the Mystics at the foul line with the team shooting 76.7% (23-30) and with Washington shooting 63.6 % (7-11).
The leading scorer for the Mystics was Emma Meesseman who had 24 points. Meesseman also had a double-double in the game as she had 13 rebounds with her 24 points.
Myisha Hines-Allen also had a double-double in the game for Washington as she had 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Leilani Mitchell was the third Mystics player to score in double-digits in the game as she had 11 points.
Washington Starts Fast But Ends First Quarter With Two Point Lead
The Mystics had the shooting touch in the early minutes of this game as the team went on an 11-2 run to start the quarter. Emma Meesseman was the leader of this run as she scored seven of the 11 points.
Starting at the 4:05 minute mark, The Aces would outscore Washington 17-10 to cut the lead after one quarter to two points (21-19). The leader of this run was A’ja Wilson who scored nine of the 17 points.
The Aces shooting percentage in the first quarter was 47.4 % (9-19).
Washington’s shooting percentage in the first quarter was 40.9 % (9-22).
Mystics Take Two-Point Lead Into Half
Washington would get hot first in the second quarter as the team went on 8-3 run to push their lead to 29-22 with 5:55 left in the half. Myisha Hines-Allen was the leader of this run as she scored six of the eight points.
The Aces would answer back with a 7-0 run which would tie the game at 29 with 4:10 left in the half. The keys of this run were Danielle Robinson scoring four points and Las Vegas hitting three foul shots.
In the following minutes, the Aces would tie the game up twice which the final time was a 35 point score with 1:29 left in the quarter.
The Mystics would close the quarter by making two foul shots which gave the team a 37-35 lead.
Las Vegas would have their worst shooting percentage of the game in the second quarter with 36.4 % (4-11).
Washington would have their worst shooting percentage of the game in the second quarter with 37.5 % (6-16).
The leading scorer in the first half for the Aces was A’ja Wilson with 12 points.
The leading scorer in the first half for the Mystics was Emma Meesseman with 15 points.
Las Vegas Takes A One Point Lead After Three Quarters
The first four minutes of the second half was a tight one as the two teams traded the lead back and forth five times.
The Aces would have the lead (49-47) after that time which the team would add on five more points to extend their lead to 54-47 with 5:52 left in the third.
The Mystics would answer back seconds later with a 12-2 run which gave them a 59-56 lead with 2:14 left in the quarter. Keys to this run was Myisha Hines-Allen scoring five points and the team hitting two three-pointers ( Aerial Powers and Myisha Hines-Allen).
Starting at the 1:25 mark, Las Vegas would score four unanswered points to take a 60-59 lead into the fourth quarter. The Aces had four rebounds during that run.
Las Vegas had a shooting percentage of 52.9 % (9-17) in the third quarter.
Washington had a shooting percentage of 40.0 % (8-20) in the third quarter.
Las Vegas Takes A Six Point Win
Turnovers were a big part of the early minutes of the fourth quarter as there was a total of five among the two teams.
At the 4:32 minute mark, the Aces would have a 74-69 lead over Washington which would grow to 76-69 as A’ja Wilson would hit two foul shots in the following minute.
The Mystics were not ready to go just yet as Ariel Atkins would make a three-pointer to cut the lead to four (76-72) with 2:51 left in the game.
In the last minute of the game, the Aces made five foul shots to seal a 83-77 win over Washington.
Las Vegas had their best shooting percentage of the game in the fourth quarter with 60.0 % (6-10).
The Mystics had their best shooting percentage of the game in the fourth quarter with 50.0 % (8-16).
Stats:
FG%: LV 49.1% &WAS 41.9%
3P%: LV 40.0 %&WAS30.8%
FT%: LV76.7%&WAS63.6 %
Rebs: LV38& WAS30
Ast: LV 11&WAS17
Stl:LV6 & WAS7
TO: LV15&WAS11
Blks: LV0&WAS1
Outside the First State 
