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Aces Miss out on Opportunity to Clinch First Round Bye With, 78-74, Loss at Atlanta

September 5, 2019 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) - Las Vegas Aces News Release

ATLANTA, GA - Las Vegas led for the first three-plus quarters Thursday evening, but the Atlanta Dream went on a 9-0 run in the middle of the fourth to escape with a, 78-74, victory.

KEY RUNS

First Quarter (Aces 25, Dream 20)

Las Vegas scored the first six points of the game, and didn't trail through the first three-plus quarters

Second Quarter (Aces 42, Dream 37)

Las Vegas led 30-28 with 6:07 to go in the period, and scored the next six points to post the team's largest lead of the half at nine, 36-27.

Third Quarter (Aces 57, Dream 55)

None

Fourth Quarter (Dream 78, Aces 74)

Las Vegas led 62-59 with 7:11 remaining, but Atlanta scored the next nine points to take a lead they would never relinquish.

KEY STATS

The Dream out-rebounded the Aces 47 to 35.

Atlanta made 9 of 22 from three-point range, while Las Vegas went 1 for 15.

Las Vegas went 15 for 23 from the free throw line (65.2 percent), while Atlanta went 13 for 21 (61.9)

Atlanta committed 15 turnovers which the Aces turned into 17 points, while Las Vegas committed 9 turnovers which the Dream turned into 10 points.

GAME NOTES

Liz Cambage scored in double figures for the 28th time this season (15 points). She played just 1:13 in the second half after leaving due to a left leg injury.

A'ja Wilson scored in double figures for the 22nd time this season (19 points).

Jackie Young just missed out on a double-double with 9 points and 9 assists.

A'ja Wilson blocked a career-high tying 7 shots.

Carolyn Swords did not travel as she continued to undergo concussion protocol.

NEXT GAME

Las Vegas concludes its 2019 regular season on the road, Sunday, at Phoenix. Tip is slated for 1 pm PT.

PLAYOFF PICTURE

With the loss, Las Vegas (20-13) falls a half-game behind the third place Sparks, pending the outcome of Los Angeles' game this evening against Seattle. Los Angeles has the tiebreaker against the Aces should the team finish the year with the same record. Las Vegas is also now a half-game ahead of Chicago in fifth place. The Aces magic number to clinch at least the fourth seed, and a bye into the second round, remains one- any combination of one Las Vegas win or Sky loss.

POSTGAME VIDEO INTERVIEWS

Bill Laimbeer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ATQfxusmJQ&feature=youtu.be

A'ja Wilson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EVUDCw5sVY&feature=youtu.be

Tamera Young - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LifSq_V3QzE&feature=youtu.be

POSTGAME QUOTES

Las Vegas Aces Quotes

Head Coach Bill Laimbeer

On where the team struggled statistically...

"We lost the game from start to finish, I don't think we showed up to play a basketball game to win, I think we showed up to play. We thought it was going to be easy, it's not. One-for-15 from three-ball for us shows us that we weren't concentrating, we gave them too many layups, too many offensive rebounds, we missed too many free throws - you can go on and on and on, we just didn't show up mentally."

On closing out the regular season in the No. 4 position...

"I don't see any way we're going to win the next game, I hope somebody else helps us out."

#22 A'ja Wilson (F)

On playing in front of what was basically a home crowd for her...

"I'm just honestly grateful for the fan base that myself and the Aces have created over the last two years. I'm just so thankful for people who donated to my foundation that allowed us to have not one bus, but two, come here. We couldn't get the win, but at the end of the day those are the people that are going to help us later down the road, they always have our back, so I'm just thankful that we have such a great fan base."

On what went wrong on both the defensive and offensive ends for the Aces...

"Coach showed us the video from the replacements, how it's like quicksand, when one thing goes back it just keeps going and keeps going, well how do you get yourself out of that? I think that plays a big part for us this year [more] than anything, and we just really need to take a deep breath, step back and just observe what's around us rather than just in our heads, because once you get in your head one mistake can just blow up. I think we just really need to come together, I'll own up to that, I didn't show the leadership that I could have to help bring our teammates up and help them get through the curves like they have been for me, so I take full ownership in that. We've got to get back to the drawing board and hopefully pull out wins."

#1 Tamera Young (F)

On how disappointing it is that they weren't able to hold on to the win...

"It's very disappointing, we just have to lock in and buckle down, and that's what we didn't do tonight. We had too many lapses and we didn't have the energy that we needed. We have to take each game one at a time, we can't just look forward to the playoffs, we have to look now, and we failed tonight."

On the game being decided from the three-point line...

"Just have to lock in and knock down the shots, and when the shots are not falling you have to play defense, and we relaxed on that tonight, we didn't have the defense that we needed."

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