Dallas Wings Fall at Las Vegas Aces in Season Finale, 98-84
September 20, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Dallas Wings News Release
Las Vegas, NV - The Dallas Wings dropped a 98-84 contest at the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday night to wrap up the 2024 season. Satou Sabally had a game-high 25 points to lead the Wings, who were without starters Arike Ogunbowale (illness) and Tearia McCowan (suspended).
Sabally added seven rebounds and matched her season best with seven assists. She was one of five Wings to score in double figures, with Jaelyn Brown finishing with a career-best 15 points, Kalani Brown matching her season highs with 13 points and nine rebounds, Natasha Howard adding 13 and Maddy Siegrist finishing with 12.
The Wings reached the 30-point mark in the opening quarter for the second straight game as the teams finished the first knotted at 30-30. Sabally had a game-high 11 points off 3-3 shooting, including 2-2 from deep, to go along with two rebounds and two assists over the first 10 minutes. Siegrist and Howard each added seven points.
The Aces came out firing to open the second quarter, going on a 9-0 run over the opening 1:41 to force a Wings timeout. The Las Vegas run stretched to 12-0 following the timeout, before Siegrist ended the drought at the 7:29 mark with a made free-throw, bringing the score to 42-31, Aces.
Dallas closed the gap to seven, 49-42, with 3:52 left in the half after baskets from Jacy Sheldon and Jaelyn Brown. The Aces responded with an 11-0 run, holding the Wings off the scoreboard for nearly three minutes while the Vegas lead swelled to 18 at 60-42. Sabally made a three with 1:04 left in the half to bring the halftime score to 60-45 in favor of the home team.
The Wings got as close as 10 in the third, but three-point shooting continued to favor the Aces. After making 11 triples over the first 20 minutes, Las Vegas added three more in the third while holding Dallas to just 1-of-2 from deep in the frame. The Aces led by 20 after three, 88-68.
Momentum swung in favor of the Wings in the fourth, as Dallas went on a 13-0 run between 8:16 and 4:57 to make it a single-digit game, 90-81, for the first time since the three-minute mark in the second quarter. The Wings remained within nine, 93-84, with three minutes to go, but Dallas was kept off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game as the Aces scored five more insurance points to clinch the win at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
The Wings shot .429 from the field and .450 from three, while finishing with a .789 clip from the charity stripe. Vegas shot .467 from the field and .405 from three, but made 15 triples. The Aces also went 13-16 (.812) from the free-throw line. Las Vegas won the rebounding battle 38-33, and had a narrow edge in points in the paint (38-36) and second-chance points (13-10), while Dallas held the advantage in fast break points (17-12). Both teams committed 13 turnovers.
Megan Gustafson led five Aces in double figures with 24 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Las Vegas was without starters A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young.
Dallas, which spent much of 2024 decimated by injuries, finishes the season 9-31. Las Vegas (27-13) moves on to the First Round of the WNBA Playoffs as the No. 4 seed and will face the No. 5 seed Seattle Storm.
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