|
Jackie Young had 18 points, six assists and
three steals and Kelsey Plum scored 16 points for the Aces, who
began their quest to repeat as WNBA champions. A'ja Wilson
recorded 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots and
Alysha Clark scored 13 points off the bench for Las Vegas.
Kahleah Copper scored 15 points to pace eighth-seeded Chicago.
Courtney Williams added nine points, 11 rebounds and six
assists, and Elizabeth Williams grabbed 10 rebounds.
Game 2 of the best-of-3 series will be played Sunday afternoon
in Las Vegas. If a Game 3 is necessary, it would be contested
Sept. 20 in Chicago.
Las Vegas connected on 43.2 percent of its field-goal attempts,
including 7 of 22 (31.8 percent) from 3-point range. Kiah Stokes
collected 14 rebounds.
The Sky made just 33.3 percent of their attempts and were 5 of
22 (22.7 percent) from behind the arc.
Plum scored 13 first-half points as the Aces took a 53-36 lead.
Copper had 13 in the half for Chicago.
Las Vegas never trailed and began establishing its superiority
by making 11 of 17 first-quarter shots to take a 27-15 lead.
An 8-0 run early in the second quarter increased the edge to
39-20. Young registered a four-point play to push the lead to
48-26 with 3:35 left in the first half.
After possessing the 17-point halftime advantage, Las Vegas was
sluggish and made just two free throws and no baskets over the
first 4 1/2 minutes of the third quarter.
However, the Aces awoke with 11 consecutive points, beginning
with Plum's 3-pointer. Young sank two treys during the burst as
Las Vegas held a 66-40 lead with 3:30 to play in the third
quarter.
The Aces led 70-46 entering the final stanza. Gray scored the
first six points of an 8-0 run that saw Las Vegas push its lead
to 80-50 with 5:44 remaining.
The lead topped out at 32 points.
--Field Level Media
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
