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A three-game win streak turned four games has netted the Las Vegas Aces their longest win streak of the season.
To cap a short two-game road trip, Las Vegas vanquished Washington, 88-77, Saturday afternoon from the nation’s capital. Coming into play, the Mystics had won four of their last six games.
“We had a stern conversation at halftime about our defense,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “To hold that team to 25 points in a half is really good job. We became much more active, we started turning them over and then you know, our offense gets a little bit easier.”
With the road trip in the rearview mirror, the Aces will return home for two more games. That stretch starts with a Tuesday night date with the Indiana Fever inside the T-Mobile Arena.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
A stifling defensive effort in the second half pushed Las Vegas to the victory. Hammon’s group held Washington to just 25 points in the second half including going scoreless for the final 3:22 of regulation.
“That defensive edge has to be there from the jump and it wasn’t,” Hammon said. “I guess I’m really proud of them for the way they responded in the second half.”
On their home floor, the Mystics came out red hot to the tune of six made three-pointers in 10 first quarter attempts. Three of those attempts and makes came from forward Stefanie Dolson.
By halftime, the Aces had given up 30 points from deep on 16 attempts. The tides turned in the second half with the home team going 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.
At one point of the third quarter, Washington recorded just one point over a span of more than four minutes. In addition, it tallied just two field goals over the last 7:44 of the game.
“Holding them to eight points in the fourth quarter [was] a huge thing,” guard Chelsea Gray said. “We’re able to play in transition [and] get into our secondary action.
“When we play defense, we’re really hard to beat.”
Gray had her first 20-point scoring night of the season on a near perfect 8-of-9 from the field on her way to 22 points. In the second quarter, she knocked down her first made three of the year.
She'd drill two more in the third quarter as Las Vegas made its run back into the game. Just before the fourth quarter, she was fouled on a three-point attempt and would connect on all three free throws to cut the deficit to two.
It was a field goal from Gray early in the fourth quarter to give the team its first lead since the first quarter after trailing by as many as 11 points. She’d ice the game with another dagger after a timeout with just over 90 seconds left in the contest.
The team has not dropped a contest since Gray returned from injury.
“I feel good,” she said. “I’m getting my wind back, I’m able to put long stretches together. It’s going to take gameplay to really get in game shape. I felt the best I’ve felt this season.”
Fellow guard Jackie Young led the team in scoring with 26 points, 19 of which came in the first half. Veteran guard Tiffany Hayes tied a season-high with 17 points off-the-bench.
Forward A’ja Wilson went scoreless in the first half after missing all six of her tries from the floor. Her first field goal of the game came with just under nine minutes left in the third quarter on her eighth attempt.
“I think they made it a point to make things difficult for A and [guard Kelsey Plum],” Young said. “So that gave us opportunities – whether that was getting downhill, shooting threes – just making the right play.”
Late in regulation, Wilson would cash in on a pair of free throws to finish with 11 points on 4-of-15 from the field. Her streak of 20-straight games of at least 20 points scored is now over.
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