NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



 Las Vegas Aces

Sparks Dominate in Fourth Quarter as Aces Fall, 99-78

July 15, 2018 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Las Vegas Aces News Release


LAS VEGAS - The first three-plus quarters of the Aces-Sparks game saw 19 lead changes and six ties, but Los Angeles took over in the fourth to take the season series from Las Vegas with a 99-78 victory.

KEY RUNS

The Aces led 67-66 early in the fourth quarter, but the Sparks scored the next nine points, and 18 of the next 21 to go up 14, 84-70. It was the 19th and final lead change of the night. Prior to that stretch, neither team led by more than six points. Candace Parker scored 13 points in the fourth quarter going 5 for 6 from the field including 3 for 3 from downtown.

KEY STATS

The Sparks outscored the Aces 35-15 in the fourth quarter

Los Angeles went 10 for 20 from three-point range, while Las Vegas went 2 for 12.

The Aces grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to the Sparks' 5, and Las Vegas outscored Los Angeles 16-10 on second chance points.

Los Angeles was a perfect 15 for 15 from the free throw line.

Chelsea Gray didn't miss a shot going 9 for 9 from the field, including 2 for 2 from three-point range, and making both of her free throws.

All five Sparks starters logged 30 or more minutes.

GAME NOTES

A'ja Wilson (15 points) scored in double figures for the 23rd time to start her career, tying the franchise record set by Natalie Williams back in 1999.

Kayla McBride (18 points) scored in double figures for the 20th time this season, and the 19th time in a row.

Dearica Hamby (10 points) reached double figures in scoring for the eighth time this season.

Candace Parker finished one assist shy of a triple double (34 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists)

The game featured 19 lead changes and 6 ties

Neither team led by more than six points throughout the first three quarters.

Candace Parker scored 14 points in the first quarter after scoring just 7 points in the entire game the last time these two teams met in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Aces Postgame Quotes

vs. Los Angeles, July 15, 2018

Head Coach Bill Laimbeer

Opening Statement: I think today was an example of us not being there quite yet, mental toughness-wise. We really didn't play well for three quarters and then we laid an egg in the fourth quarter. Learning experience? No. For A'ja Wilson, hopefully. After the game I made it clear to her and the team that she can't put her head down like that. It was clear to everybody on her team and everybody in the gym that she missed a couple of shots, became disengaged from the game and dragged the rest of the team down. For the undisputed leader of our ball club, that cannot happen. I think that was made very clear to her. She understands it. We're going to find out how she deals with it. I think that had to be said. We all saw what happened and that can't happen. We're all on her side. I told her and the team that I was sorry that I put her back into the game in at the start of the fourth quarter because I knew that she was not engaged but I told them at the same time that I'd do it again tomorrow. She has to learn and has to understand how important she is to our franchise and her team, to be held accountable by her teammates and coaching staff. She's very capable of doing that and I believe that she will. This was a one-out for her but that can't happen in professional basketball. I lectured her at length and told her on the way out the door that, 'I'm sorry. We talked about this before the season started. The pressure that you're going to have as the leader of this ball club is going to be enormous.' I also told her that this is a tremendously accelerated learning curve for her. I can take players missing shots and missing assignment at times but you don't put your head down. We had other people that didn't quite have it tonight. We kept pushing and pushing tonight and maybe we hit a wall but that's not an excuse. We'll see how we perform the next time around. We have Phoenix next. That's a very tough team but that's a game we think we can win.

On the getting wore out by the fourth quarter: I got a sense that we got worn down mentally. Los Angeles is a very strong team. They've been to the finals three years in a row and are former champions. They execute under pressure. We didn't. They're the biggest front-running team in the world. I told our team at the start that we can't let them get ahead of us the way that they did. That's how they play. We didn't compete mentally for 40 minutes and that's what did us in.

On Candice Parker's performance: She made all of the shots. She was raising for three-pointers early in the shot clock because there was no pressure on the situation.

Aces guard Kayla McBride

On impact of Candace Parker

She had 5 threes and it's tough to beat a good team when they're making shots like that across the board. They all feed off Candace, so when she gets hot like that, it's hard to stop. She made some big shots and we just couldn't hit anything. I think A'ja got off to a slow start and she struggled to get it back. It's tough when you have a star like that on a roll.

On A'ja missing shots

She has to learn that there's so much more to the game that she can contribute to other than just making shots. There are so many things that happen in every single play, so the biggest thing I'm trying to teach her is to just get to the next play and have a short-term memory. She's a rookie, she's played a lot of games already and I'm trying to get her to just focus and lock in. I continue to push her to just be herself. Sometimes you're going to come out and the ball's just not dropping for you, but what else can you do for this team to bring us wins. That's something she's going to have to learn, but I think she's done a great job this year. She has to try to not be so hard on herself.

On possible all-star selection

It's always a cool experience. I was an all-star my second year and it's always a cool experience to represent your team and your family. It brings you back to all the work you've put in and it would be an honor to represent Las Vegas and our new team in the right way.

Starting Forward A'ja Wilson

On 4th quarter

Once things got going well for them, they just kept going and kept pushing and they're a good team, they've been together for a while. I take full blame for tonight, I didn't engage the way I needed to be engaged and it showed. I can't afford to do that for my team, so in the stretch it was all about mental toughness and I take full blame for it because I was not good.

On knowing she is struggling on the court

Personally, it's something within myself that I have to find and pull out. It's just within and I have to find it. I get really really down on myself if I miss a shot, I don't like missing shots and that's unrealistic because of course you're going to miss shots. I get inside my own head when I miss shots and I can't afford to do that for my team or for myself. In the league that we play in, you just have to keep pushing. You really don't have time to be down about the last game, you keep pushing through and I have to speed up that process. I have to let it go and continue to be better.

On Candace Parker

She shot the basketball great and that's tough to guard. Her teammates fed off of her and it comes back to me since I was guarding her. I shouldn't let her get the shots that she was getting but I can only control what I can control in those situations. It was just one of those games where she had it.

Los Angeles Postgame Quotes

At Las Vegas, July 15, 2018

Head Coach Brian Agler

On the win:

We really just try to focus on ourselves a lot. We have to get back to playing like we can. I thought we made some improvements there. Our defense was pretty good. When you start making shots your offense looks good. With Las Vegas A'ja Wilson is a great player and we really wanted to make it congested for her and Kayla McBride and to contain their guards. We didn't do as well at blocking out rebounds. They got quite a few offensive boards, more than we would have liked. Overall, we finished the game very strong. People don't know how difficult this league is. The Aces were on their fifth game in nine or 10 days. At some point, and we've been through it ourselves, your legs just give out and I think that's what happened a little bit with them in the fourth quarter.

On Candace Parker's performance:

You saw what she's capable of doing. She was spectacular. She shot the ball well. She was one assist away from a triple-double. That's the second time she's done that this week. She's just a tremendous player.

On containing A'ja Wilson:

It's really hard for a rookie to play her whole season and then come right in and play another grinding season here. Right now, it's starting to catch up. Just like when I talked about how many games they've had to play in so many days. It's just really difficult. But she's a spectacular talent. With a lot of the prestige and thanks that she's getting there's a lot of pressure that you put on yourself and the expectations get real high. Sometimes it's hard to meet those expectations when you're going through a grueling season. If they have a couple days off then I anticipate that she'll bounce back once she gets some rest. But that grind that they were on caught up and it probably caught up with her too.

Starting Forward Candace Parker

On the win:

It was a big win for us. With everything so close, we have to get these wins on the road. We let our home court go last game so we just had to get back on the winning side. In the last game we played them, it was about what are we doing on offense whereas this game was about just us looking great and controlling their defense. In order for us to be considered be great, we have to play consistently. This was a great start and great game at the right direction. This is what we're capable of is playing at a flow and taking what the defense gives us.

On bouncing back from previous game at Las Vegas:

Every game is different is terms of us being talented on our team that I think anybody can step up and have a big game. For me, it's just about trying to facilitate, create and make plays. I think that we have great playmakers on our team. We've kind of struggled up until this point in terms of trying to figure out where we fit in. Now I hope we get in a rhythm of creating and playing with pace. I think that was the key and that's the type of game I like to play is with pace.

On the defensive mentality throughout the game:

We're not going to go in and play a mistake-free game but for us it's just about making up for the mistakes that we make and playing with pace. When they score, you have to take it right back at them and make their looks hard.

Starting Center Nneka Ogwumike

On breaking open the game in the second half:

I think it kind of comes with the mentality of we assumed in the second half and most of the fourth quarter. We didn't want the game to get away from us. We wanted to capitalize on how we were being guarded. We recognized a few defensive schemes and we were able to get some good looks.

On your defensive throughout the game:

I think when we started getting more aggressive on defense, we were able to get our hands on a lot of balls and get some turnovers that put us in a transitional advantage. I think we did a really good job of recognizing that down the stretch and we came and operated with the ball in the open court.

On tightness down the stretch:

I was what we're used to this year. We know we have it in us and we've been seeing parts of it but this is the consistency that we needed for the whole 40 minutes. I think we did that fantastic job down the stretch.

On Las Vegas being an energetic team:

They are exactly that. They're quite young and have a lot of talent coached by a veteran coach. They're going to play hard and have been on a role. They're playing well right now and I think that that was something that we recognized coming in. We want to be able to match intensity or surpass it and I think we did that tonight.


• Discuss this story on the Women's National Basketball Association message board...

Women's National Basketball Association Stories from July 15, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central