Wilson leaves with wrist injury as Aces drop another one against Liberty

Las Vegas guard Jackie Young looks to make a move against the New York defense. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

For the second time in the first 19 games of the season, three-time MVP A’ja Wilson had to leave a Las Vegas Aces game early due to injury.

This time around she fell hard on her left wrist late in the second quarter of a, 87-78, loss to the New York Liberty Tuesday, July 8 from the Barclays Center. It was a rematch of the season opener between the league’s two most recent champions.

After the result, Las Vegas has now dropped eight of the last nine meetings against New York.

“We’re just building,” guard Dana Evans said. “It’s not resulting in wins all the time but we’ve been seeing progress and getting better each and every game. We’re just going to keep stacking days, we’re not going to give up. We’ve got what it takes and we’re going to figure it out.”

With the loss, the Aces drop to under .500 for the sixth time this season as the team falls to 9-10 on the year. Entering Tuesday, the club was locked in a three-way tie with the Golden State Valkyries and the Indiana Fever for the sixth spot in the league. Heading into Wednesday, the team will be tied with the Washington Mystics for the ninth spot in the league.

Aces forward A'ja Wilson goes up before crashing down to the hardwood after being fouled by Liberty guard Leonie Fiebich. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

Ironically enough, Las Vegas will battle Washington as the final installment of this five-game road trip. That game is scheduled to take place Thursday, July 10 from EagleBank Arena with tip-off slated for 4:30 p.m.

Wilson took a hard dive to the hardwood after taking a foul from Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich. She’d rise to her feet and drilled both free throw attempts before leaving the floor and heading to the locker room during the next stoppage in play.

With 2:22 left in the first half, Wilson would head to the back to get some extra treatment before halftime. After halftime, she’d return to the bench but in street clothes after being ruled out with a right wrist injury.

Last month, she missed four games due to a concussion.

“It’s just next man up,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “That’s it. [Guard Kierstan Bell] has been playing real solid for us.”

Las Vegas forward NaLyssa Smith looks to be effective out of the triple threat inside the Barclays Center. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

Feeling inspired out of the break, Las Vegas raced out to its largest lead of the game at seven points to force a home team timeout. In fact, this game featured no lead larger than nine points and four lead changes in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter.

A dry spell that saw the Aces go without a field goal for the final five minutes and 40 seconds of the fourth quarter. During that time, the team was outscored, 17-7, by the Liberty.

“We knew they were going to amp up their pressure a little bit in the second half,” guard Jackie Young said. “They sped us up a little bit, put us on our heels a little bit – that’s why we were turning the ball over.”

Young led the team in scoring with 19 points including 11 in the first half. Her first half featured a late layup to take a two-point lead into halftime.

Fellow guards Chelsea Gray and Jewell Loyd added 11 points and 10 points respectively.

In her second straight start, forward NaLyssa Smith reached double-figures with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. She played in just her third game with Las Vegas since being traded from Dallas on June 30.

“She’s been great for us,” Young said. “She came in just ready to work, ready to get to it. She’s picking up on stuff pretty fast and she’s doing all the little things for us.”