LAS VEGAS – Sin City is no stranger to seeing a hot streak come to an end.
The Washington Mystics weren’t in Vegas long before theirs went cold. Riding a WNBA-best run of seven straight victories into the home of the defending champions, the Aces (23-11) dealt their visitors a bad hand Tuesday night, extinguishing the sizzling Mystics in an 86-76 win — in turn snapping a two-game losing skid of their own.
In a nutshell, this young Mystics (19-13) squad is really good. However, there is only so much you can do when A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young have it going.
Wilson led all scorers with 26 points and added 13 rebounds to notch another double-double (17). She went 10-for-18 from the field and racked up six stocks (four blocks, two steals). Young kept pace with the four-time MVP, pouring in 25 points (4-9 3PT, 7-7 FT) to go along with eight clean assists (no turnovers).
“I needed a game with no turnovers,” she said. “I [always] like to keep them low, so it feels good to go out there and make the right reads and still be able to be aggressive and get to my spots.”
Young got things rolling for the hosts. She scored 13 straight points to end the opening quarter, giving Vegas a 22-19 advantage. Young buried three of her four triples and converted four free throws in the frame.
Young’s surge came after an animated timeout called by head coach Becky Hammon, prompted by a 9-0 run from the Mystics. The Aces outscored Washington 17-8 the rest of the quarter.
The four-time MVP — who had eight in the first half — tightened the screw and put up a dominant 18-point effort after the interval. Combined with Young’s 12 second-half points, the Mystics ran out of answers by the time the fourth quarter began.
The Aces took a three-point lead into the last 10 minutes and extended it to double figures — a much-needed strong finish after a grueling five-game road trip.
“We just started to dictate things [in the fourth] versus reacting to things,” Wilson said. “I think that’s the biggest difference, and it comes from just understanding what needs to be done and what is in front of you.
“Sometimes, we kind of get ahead of ourselves, constantly looking at the scoreboard — thinking about how we can get points on the board — versus just realizing what’s in front of us and dictating actions on both sides of the ball. I think that helped us [down] the stretch, and I think we just had a sense of calmness about us. … We just weathered their storms and absorbed the punches that they were throwing at us.”
The victory saw the Aces tie up their season series with the Mystics at one apiece. Washington beat Vegas 100-99 in the capital before the All-Star break on July 22. The decider will take place at the Michelob ULTRA Arena on Thursday.
2-3 over their last five games going into this one, the Aces had an appetite for a feel-good win — especially after being handed a 40-point defeat in New York on Sunday, though that was without the big three, who all sat out due to rest.
However, wins and losses affect the whole team, and this victory meant a whole lot to the Aces — especially considering the amount of injuries they are dealing with. Dana Evans, Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, Kierstan Bell, and Justine Pissott were all unavailable tonight.
Rookie Ta’Niya Latson and Mai Yamamoto helped ensure that Hammon did not feel her lack of bench depth too much.
Latson scored five points and chipped in two assists and a block. Yamamoto hit a big three in the fourth quarter, starting an 8-0 run that saw the Aces all but pull away from the Mystics for good. She also had one assist and three steals.
“I thought they were solid,” Hammon said. “That’s really what you want from your bench: solid good basketball play on both ends, and I thought our bench really gave us that tonight. Nothing that was crazy eye-popping, just good basketball, and that’s really what we need.
“I thought [Yamamoto] was disruptive defensively. [Latson] is hard to screen. She has a natural physical mentality to her, whereas Mai is going to beat you a little bit more with those quick little feet. That kind of brings different looks. I did think they started trying to put Mai in some actions to roll back and try to put her in the post a little bit. Those are some actions that we can clean up for the next game and maybe not get as exposed, but I thought they did a really good job.”
Although the Mystics’ big trio of Shakira Austin (20), Sonia Citron (19), and Kiki Iriafen (15) combined for 54 points — the Aces’ defense did its job when it mattered, holding the visitors to 28 percent from three-point range and coming away from Washington’s 16 turnovers with nine steals.
NaLyssa Smith continued her fine stretch of form with her third double-double of the campaign (11 points, 11 rebounds (five offensive). Chelsea Gray added 12 points (2-6 3PT) and five assists.