WNBA Las Vegas Aces

Aces Can't Complete Comeback, Fall to Sky, 87-84

Published on August 10, 2019 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Las Vegas Aces News Release


LAS VEGAS, NV - Las Vegas dug itself a 17-point first quarter hole Friday evening, and although the Aces led by as many as five in the second half Chicago escaped with a get over the hump in an 87-84 loss to Chicago. The loss kept the Aces a-game-and-a-half back of Connecticut (16-7) and Washington (16-7), and dropped them into a virtual tie with Los Angeles (14-8).

KEY RUNS

First Quarter

Chicago scored the first 8 points of the game and 18 of the first 20 as the Aces missed nine of their first 10 shots from the field.

Second Quarter

Las Vegas trailed by 15 early in the second, but went on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to six, 33-27.

Third Quarter

The Aces trailed 58-50 with 5:14 to go in the third, but scored nine straight points to take their first leaf of the game, 59-58. Las Vegas would go on to lead by as many as five in the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Tied at 78 with 4:03 to go in the game, the Aces missed eight shots and committed three turnovers down the stretch. Stefanie Dolson's three pointer with 3:02 to go gave the Sky a lead they would never relinquish.

KEY STATS

Chicago connected on 42.9 percent of their shots while Las Vegas made 36.9 percent of theirs.

Liz Cambage went 12 for 22 from the field while the rest of the Aces made 19 of 62.

The Sky made 28 of 31 free throws while the Aces went 18 for 22.

The Aces outscored the Sky 46 to 32 in points in the paint.

Las Vegas grabbed 19 offensive rebounds and turned them into 21 second chance points, while Chicago grabbed 7 offensive boards and flipped them into 6 points.

The Sky committed more turnovers than the Aces (16 to 15), but they scored 19 points off the Aces turnovers while Las Vegas scored 10 off of Chicago's miscues.

GAME NOTES

The Aces were without A'ja Wilson for the sixth straight game (ankle). They are 4-2 in those games.

Courtney Vandersloot moved into sixth place on the WNBA's career assist list and now has 1,575.

Liz Cambage scored a season-high 28 points. It was the 20th time she has scored in double figures this season and the third time she has scored 20 or more points. She added 11 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season.

Sugar Rodgers scored a season-high 14 points.

Dearica Hamby scored in double figures for the 13th time this season (12 points). She added 12 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season.

A'ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum were presented with their World Cup Championship rings by head coach Dawn Staley in a pregame ceremony.

NEXT GAME

The Aces remain at home hosting the front-running Connecticut Sun Sunday at 3 pm PT on ESPN2.

POSTGAME VIDEOS

Bill Laimbeer -https://youtu.be/WYQExoE610w

Kayla Mcbride - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSHzrDjfU84&feature=youtu.be

Sugar Rodgers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BecnwVTkk4c&feature=youtu.be

Bill Laimbeer Presser

Opening Statement...

We fought back from a horrible start, got a lead, and the same thing keeps creeping in. We turn it over, we take a bad shot, we foul, they shoot free throws and get control of the game. We were unable to pull this one out. It was very frustrating. Its difficult because I don't play the game. They have to learn. We saw for the first time today how much we miss A'ja. Would have been key especially for the first quarter. We would have had someone who can give us some buckets. I thought Liz played a phenomenal first half but struggled in the second but still her presence was there. I have to think long and hard about making some type of change. We cant come out every two out of three games and be down a couple points in the first quarter because we just don't have it. That is unacceptable and that cant happen any longer and they stayed the course. Something has to do differently this is just too frustrating and we have to try something different.

On what Laimbeer wanted at the end of the game...

Anyway to get a three ball. We have done a pre prior possession and got a good look at a three and missed the shot. They switched and did a nice job taking away our initial three ball but we still got off a good shot but it didn't go in and thats the ball game.

On Sugar's performance...

I thought Sugar came in and did what she is supposed to do. Come in and make shots. She plays hard on defense, tonight the shots were going in for her. Getting her more minutes is difficult, depends on how she is playing but playing with the energy she does she gets tired quickly so the spurts I played her in I thought were appropriate.

Sugar Rodgers

Q. How did it feel to get loose for a couple shots?

"It felt good, but we didn't win so it doesn't matter. But getting them in is ideal. If I'm at range and they go in then they go in, if they don't then I just got to go out there and bring the energy."

Q. What was your view of the slow start you guys got off there?

"It's hard to start right there and comeback and be into it. There was a lot of little things that we didn't get done today that needed to get done."

Q. What do you need to do to recover and bounce back for Sunday?

"We don't have a choice, every game for us is a playoff game. We play Connecticut next and they lost by 30 something tonight, so we know they are going to be hungry coming in we just have to do what we have to do."

Chicago Sky Head Coach James Wade

Coach James Wade on players playing through foul trouble in the fourth quarter...

"It's challenging, especially when you got players that are so good and gifted drawing fouls, you have to be extra focused. You have to stop them from sending them to the line and that's a challenge. They did a good job at executing."

Coach James Wade on an uptdate regarding Jantel Lavender's injury...

"No update yet, she's still testing, we'll get her more tests tomorrow and we'll know something. I know it's a lower extremity injury."

Coach James Wade on slowing down Liz Cambage in the second half...

"We had to crowd her space. I thought she did a good job of commanding space and face cutting. Anytime she shows in numbers, it's a disadvantage for us. We have to be more disruptive and get our hands in the passing lane and defend her from different angles."

Chicago Sky Guard Courtney Vandersloot

Courtney Vandersloot on coming back in the final quarter...

"I think we kept our composure when things weren't going our way. We just made big baskets and got big stops, that last stop was huge for us. I think we showed a lot of composure and showed that we can make big plays down the stretch."

Courtney Vandersloot on slowing down Liz Cambage after the first half...

"Boxing her out was a key. She had a lot of offensive rebounds and probably three of them resulted in and one plays in the first half. She's tough, she's a load and hard to guard. She's going to get some points but we made it tough on her. We threw some doubles and a triple at one time, when it came down to it we battled. Our post players worked their tail off to make it difficult for her, and that's all we can ask for her."

Courtney Vandersloot on preparing for challenging stretch...

"We have a tough stretch here and we're really focused on one game at a time. We know this is the playoff push, every game counts, everything is so close. If we drop one, we drop to eighth spot and if we win one, we go up. We're focused on every game, making big plays, and winning.

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