Home WNBA Articles and Highlights Las Vegas Aces Dominates The New York Liberty Behind Aja Wilson

Las Vegas Aces Dominates The New York Liberty Behind Aja Wilson

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Photo Credit: Mitchell Leff/ Getty Images

Brooklyn, NY —The Las Vegas Aces (16-7) jumped all over the New York Liberty soon as the whistle blew and didn’t let up off the gas pedal.

Las Vegas superstar A’ja Wilson scored 20 of her 25 points in a record-breaking first half to finish off the New York Liberty to the tune of 108-74 on Thursday at the Barclays Center.

Kelsey Plum chipped in 21 points, scoring 17 of them in the first half.

New York never threatened in the second half as the Aces played its reserves for the entire fourth quarter. The 108 points are the most that New York has given up in franchise history.

The Aces scored the first 12 points on the way to a 37-13 lead after the first quarter. Chelsea Gray poured in 11 of her 16 points in the opening period, making three 3-pointers from deep downtown. Las Vegas was flaming hitting 14 for 18 from the field, including making seven of eight threes.

The Aces extended their lead in the second quarter and were up 71-36 at the break.

Their total was the most ever scored in the first half of a WNBA game, surpassing the previous record of 69 tallied by the Phoenix Mercury against Minnesota in 2010.

New York chipped away at the lead, cutting the Aces’ advantage to 18 with 3:03 remaining in the game. The Liberty then scored nine straight points and 12 of the next 14, all coming by way of Sami Whitcomb three pointers. Whitcomb scored 15 points off the bench in that period. After being held to 28 points in the first half, the Liberty scored 35 in the third quarter. New York made 63.2 percent of its shots including 6 of 10 from downtown.

This was the third meeting between the teams in the past eight days and each game had a record offensive performance.

Natasha Howard scored 19 points to lead New York (9-15), which is playing three straight matinee games over the next week.

NEXT OPPONENT:

The Las Vegas Aces remain on the road for a Thursday, July 14 meeting against the New York Liberty. Tip is slated for 8:00 am PT.