After a sluggish first half, the Las Vegas Aces turned up the defensive pressure to secure an 86-76 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday night, punching their ticket to the Commissioner’s Cup Final.
The Aces will face the New York Liberty on June 30 for the Cup championship. Las Vegas finished Cup play with a 6-1 record, earning the final spot in the title game.
A’ja Wilson made history in the win, grabbing four offensive rebounds to surpass Sophia Young-Malcolm for the most offensive rebounds in franchise history with 253. Wilson finished with a double-double, adding 18 points and 10 rebounds.
“We are in a better situation than we were last year. We felt like we didn’t give ourselves a chance last season,” Wilson said. “It is good for us to have a chance to compete for a championship midway through the season.”
NaLyssa Smith led all scorers with 21 points on 80 percent shooting, while Jackie Young added 20 points. The trio of Wilson, Smith, and Young combined for 59 of the team’s 86 points.
Phoenix led 49-45 at halftime, fueled by hot three-point shooting. The Mercury made nine threes in the game and shot 70 percent from deep in the first half. However, the Aces clamped down after the break, holding the Mercury to just 27 points in the second half.
“That was an A-plus effort in the second half, that was a next-level type of effort on the defensive end,” said coach Becky Hammon. “Everybody who came in did a really great job of being disruptive. We got our hands on a lot of basketballs. Eighteen steals, it has got to be some type of record for us.”
Las Vegas forced 22 turnovers and recorded 18 steals, a season high. The defensive resurgence came after Hammon criticized the team’s defense in their previous game, a blowout loss to Dallas on Monday.
Kahleah Copper led Phoenix with 26 points and three assists, but she made just one three-pointer. Copper entered the game shooting a career-low 25 percent from beyond the arc and struggled again. The Mercury have now lost 12 of their last 16 games.
The Aces improved to 7-3 in their last 10 games. They return home to face the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday at Michelob Ultra Arena, beginning a three-game homestand.
