Shorthanded Aces Grind out 79-69 Win at Los Angeles
WNBA Las Vegas Aces

Shorthanded Aces Grind out 79-69 Win at Los Angeles

Published on June 3, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Las Vegas Aces News Release


LOS ANGELES - Behind a 25-point, 15-rebound performance by A'ja Wilson, the Las Vegas Aces (6-3, 1-0) earned a gritty win against the Los Angeles Sparks (4-5, 0-1) on Tuesday evening at Crypto.com Arena. Jackie Young nearly recorded a double-double with 16 points and 9 assists and Chelsea Gray hit a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists.

The Aces are now 1-0 in Commissioner's Cup play and with the win, the Aces nonprofit partner for CC games, the Public Education Fund, will receive $3,000.

Rae Burrell tallied a season-high 22 points; Nneka Ogwumike added 12 points and 12 rebounds and Erica Wheeler chipped in 10 for Los Angeles.

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final

LVA 14 23 27 15 79

LAS 10 20 21 18 69

1st Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 14, Los Angeles 10)

The score was tight for most of the quarter until the Aces went on a 7-0 run for an early 14-8 cushion. Dearica Hamby sunk a pair of free throws to make it a 4-point game at the end of the first. After the Aces began the game shooting 1 of 7 (.143) from the floor, they hit 5 of 11 (.455) over the last 7 minutes; the Sparks started the game going 3 0f 5 (.600), but went 0 of 8 over the last 6 minutes. Both sides shot poorly from the field overall - the Aces went 6 of 18 (.333), while LA hit on 3 of 13 (.231). Further, the teams shot a combined 2 0f 12 (.167) from 3-point land with the Aces 2 of 7 and LA 0 of 5. The Sparks attempted and made all 4 of their free throws; the Aces attempted none. Wilson led Las Vegas with 6 points, while Burrell added 4 for the home team.

2nd Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 37, Los Angeles 30)

After the Sparks scored, the Las Vegas received buckets from 4 different players in an 11-0 run that ballooned its lead to 13, 25-12. After a couple swapped scores, LA went on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits, 31-26. Young stopped the bleeding at the 2:59 mark and the Aces maintained a 7-point lead heading into the locker room. The Aces hit on 44.4% (8-18 FGs) of their shots and 42.9% from distance and held LA to 33.3% both overall and on 3-pointers. Wilson and Burrell led their respective teams again with 7 points each.

3rd Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 64, Los Angeles 51)

The third quarter was fueled by a string of spurts, which included 6-0, 6-0 and 8-0 runs by the Aces; and 4-0, 6-0 and 8-0 by the Sparks. The Aces outscored the Sparks 7-3 to cap the third. Throughout the slew of runs, Las Vegas saw its lead waffle between 5 and 15 points. Las Vegas' shooting improved this quarter, as it hit 61.1% (11-18 FGs) overall and 50% (2-4 3pt FGs) from 3-point; while LA was held to 35.3% (6-17 FGs) from the field and 2 of 3 (.667) beyond the arc. Young and Wilson had 8 points apiece; Burrell and Ogwumike notched 6 each.

4th Quarter Highlights (Las Vegas 79, Los Angeles 69)

The Aces sustained their double-digit advantage and with 5 minutes remaining, were up 71-56. However, LA outscored the Aces 8-0 to slice the Aces lead to 7, 71-64, with less than 3 minutes to play. Wilson hit an and-1 to bring Las Vegas' lead back up to 10, and held off the Sparks to the end. Las Vegas connected on 40% (6-15 FGs) of their shot attempts, while holding LA to 29.4% (5-17 FGs). Gray led the field with 7 points; Cameron Brink and Burrell had 5.

KEY STATS

Wilson blocked a season-high 5 shots.

Gray dished out a season-high 11 assists.

Kierstan Bell scored her first points of the season and finished with 6.

The Aces were held under 80 points for the second time this season (66 vs Phoenix, May 9).

Hamby, who was averaging 17.0 ppg and 7.9 rpg entering the game, was held to 2 points and 6 rebounds.

LA was held without a field goal from the 6:04 mark in the first quarter through 5:50 in the second; the Sparks made 8 of 9 from the line during that time.

FGM-A PCT 3PM-A PCT FTM-A PCT OFF DEF REB AT PF ST TO BK

LVA 31-69 . 449 8-24 . 333 9-16 .563 8 36 44 24 23 7 10 8

LAS 20-65 .308 6-23 .261 23-27 . 852 8 30 38 13 16 4 11 4

Points scored .... In the Paint 2nd Chance Fast Break Off TOs Bench

LVA 38 2 15 11 11

LAS 26 6 10 10 14

GAME NOTES

Tonight's win marked the 200th for the Las Vegas Aces and win No. 491 in franchise history.

Gray scored her 4,500th career point at 6:58 in the fourth quarter. In doing so, she became just the 4th player in the league's 30-year history to amass at least 4,500 points, 1,000 rebounds, 1,500 assists and 100 blocked shots, joining the pantheon of Candace Parker, Diana Taurasi and Alyssa Thomas. Gray, who won't turn 34 until October 8, is the youngest to the mark, passing Taurasi's 34 years and 10 days.

Gray's double-double was her 19th in an Aces uniform, which broke a tie with Liz Cambage, and she now sits alone at No. 6 in franchise history for double-doubles. It was the 22nd of her career.

Wilson collected her 900th career stock (steals + blocks), becoming the 14th player in W history with at least 900 career stocks. She is the fourth fastest to the mark (276 games), trailing Lisa Leslie (245 games), Tamika Catchings (259) and Margo Dydek (265), and at 29 years, 298 days, is the second-youngest (Lauren Jackson, 29 years, 88 days). She now has 901.

Wilson is now tied with DeLisha Milton-Jones for No. 15 on the league's all-time rebounding list with 2,574 boards.

Wilson upped her league-leading streak of 20-point games to 7 straight. Nobody else currently has two straight 20-point games.

Wilson's 25-point, 15-rebound double-double was No. 124 of her career (WNBA 5th most), No. 94 with at least 20 points (2nd) and No. 25 with at least 20 points and 15 boards (1st).

Wilson has scored in double figures in each of her past 33 games, the longest active streak in the league.

The Aces were without the services of Chennedy Carter (left leg), Dana Evans (lower left leg) and Jewell Loyd (left leg).

NEXT UP

The Aces return to Las Vegas for two games at Michelob ULTRA Arena where they will host the Golden State Valkyries (5-3) on Saturday, June 6, at 12 p.m. and the Seattle Storm (3-7) on Monday, June 8, at 7 p.m. The June 6 game will be broadcast nationally on ABC, and the June 8 contest will be broadcast on USA and locally on The Spot-Vegas 34.

Check out the Las Vegas Aces Statistics

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Women's National Basketball Association Stories from June 3, 2026


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