GAME RECAP: Las Vegas Aces Outlast Host Phoenix Mercury 86-83 for 6th Straight Victory<\/p>\n
Sat, Aug 16, 2025, 5:59 AM<\/p>\n
PHOENIX (Aug. 15, 2025) \u2014 <\/strong>Behind another 30-point performance by A\u2019ja Wilson<\/strong> and some late heroics by Chelsea Gray<\/strong>, the Las Vegas Aces (20-14) topped host Phoenix Mercury (19-13) 86-83 on Friday night at PHX Arena to earn their sixth straight victory. Wilson recorded 30 points and 16 rebounds; Gray tallied 16 points and a season-high 9 assists;\u00a0 Jackie Young<\/strong> chipped in 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists; and Jewell Loyd<\/strong> added 10.<\/p>\n Satou Sabally<\/strong> led 4 Mercury players in double figures with 26 points. Alyssa Thomas<\/strong> and Kahleah Copper<\/strong> added 15 apiece.<\/p>\n Box Score<\/a> | Photos<\/a> |Game Highlights<\/a><\/p>\n First Quarter Highlights<\/a> (Phoenix 17, Las Vegas 15) Second Quarter Highlights<\/a> (Phoenix 42, Las Vegas 41) Third Quarter Highlights<\/a> (Las Vegas 60, Phoenix 59)<\/strong> Fourth Quarter Highlights<\/a> (Las Vegas 86, Phoenix 83) KEY STATS<\/strong> The Aces and Mercury were a near-even from the field as the home side made 45.6% (31-68 FGs) and the visitors hit 45.5% (30-66 FGs). However, the Aces netted just 4 f 18 (.222) from distance to the Mercury\u2019s 10 of 27 (.370).<\/p>\n Las Vegas hit 22 of 26 (.846) from the line, Phoenix was 11 of 14 (.786) at the charity stripe.<\/p>\n The Aces outrebounded the Merc 39-30, including 12-7 on the offensive glass.<\/p>\n The Aces, who have limited their allowed points from turnovers, gave up just 7 off their 11 TOs, while scoring 14 points off the Mercury\u2019s 12 miscues.<\/p>\n The Mercury earned the battle in the paint 38-34 and 13-11 on fast break points; the Aces held the edge on second-chance points, 12-9.<\/p>\n GAME NOTES<\/strong><\/p>\n The Aces have now won 8 of their last 9 games.<\/p>\n Wilson\u2019s double-double was the 115th of her career, which ranks tied with Nneka Ogwumike<\/strong> at No. 5 among WNBA leaders<\/a>. Candace Parker<\/strong> is No. 4 with 154.<\/p>\n Tonight marked the 31st 30-point game for Wilson, who broke a tie with Breanna Stewart<\/strong> and now stands alone in the No. 3 spot for all-time 30-point games<\/a>. Angel McCoughtry<\/strong> is No. 2 with 32 and Diana Taurasi<\/strong> is No. 1 with 54.<\/p>\n The 30-point double-double marked Wilson\u2019s 7th of the season<\/a> and a WNBA-record 23rd of her career<\/a>.<\/p>\n With 2 blocks tonight, Wilson needs 2 more to pass No. 9 Ruth Riley (505) on the W\u2019s all-time blocked shot list<\/a>.<\/p>\n With her 14 made free throws, Wilson (1,403) moved past Lauren Jackson<\/strong> (1,391) and Swin Cash<\/strong> (1,397) and into No. 11 on the WNBA\u2019s all-time free throws made list<\/a>. No. 10 is Lindsay Whalen<\/strong> (1,407).<\/p>\n With her 8 made field goals, Wilson (1,988) moved past Taj McWilliams-Franklin<\/strong> (1,985) and into the No. 21 spot on the league\u2019s all-time made field goals list<\/a><\/p>\n The Aces were without Cheyenne Parker-Tyus<\/strong> (maternity).<\/p>\n UP NEXT:<\/strong> The Aces return home for another 3-game home stand, starting with the Dallas Wings (9-25) on Sunday, Aug. 17, at Michelob ULTRA Arena. The game will tip off at 12:30 p.m. PT and air nationally on ABC. Sunday also marks the \u201cShooting 4 a Cure\u201d theme game as the Las Vegas Aces are once again teaming up with the Kay Yow Fund<\/strong><\/a> for a \u201cShooting 4 a Cure\u201d campaign. Fans can pledge money for every 3-pointer made by the Aces during the Cancer Awareness Game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GAME RECAP: Las Vegas Aces Outlast Host Phoenix Mercury 86-83 for 6th Straight Victory Sat, Aug 16, 2025,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-150358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-phoenix","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-united-states-of-america","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115038199653548459","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n TEAM<\/strong><\/td>\n 1st Quarter<\/strong><\/td>\n 2nd Quarter<\/strong><\/td>\n 3rd Quarter<\/strong><\/td>\n 4th Quarter<\/strong><\/td>\n Final<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Aces<\/strong><\/td>\n 15<\/td>\n 26<\/td>\n 19<\/td>\n 26<\/td>\n 86<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Mercury<\/strong><\/td>\n 17<\/td>\n 25<\/td>\n 17<\/td>\n 24<\/td>\n 83<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/strong>The Aces, down 4-0 early, were held scoreless until the 5:37 mark with a Wilson jumper. Phoenix jumped to a 6-point lead twice, but Las Vegas responded by ending the quarter on a 9-5 run, spearheaded by 4 straight points from Wilson. The Aces shot a chilly 26.7% (4-15 FGs) from the field and Phoenix netted 36.8% (7-19 FGs). Both teams were cold from beyond the arc, shooting a combined 2 of 10 (.200), with the Aces lone 3-pointer coming from Loyd. All 5 Phoenix starters got on the board, led by Sabally with 5, while Wilson led all scorers with 8.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>The Aces tied it up 17-all but Phoenix strung together an 8-2 spurt for a 25-19 lead with 7:42 on the clock. Wilson scored 8 points in a 9-3 run that evened things up 28-28 at 5:33. Phoenix broke a 30-30 tie with a 3-pointer at 4:45 and retained a slim lead the remainder of the half. The Aces shooting improved to 57.9% (11-19 FGs), but stayed cold from distance, going 0 of 2 in the frame, while the Mercury hit 47.1% of their shots from the field and 3 of 7 from distance. Las Vegas outscored Phoenix 16-10 in the paint. Wilson paced all scorers with 12, while Sabally and Copper topped Phoenix with 8 apiece. Wilson headed into halftime with 20 points and 9 rebounds on 53.8% field goal shooting.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Behind 6 points from Young and 4 from Wilson, Las Vegas strung together a 17-6 run out of the break for its largest lead of the game, 58-48, at 3:56. The Mercury stuck back by outscoring the Aces 11-2 to close the third quarter.\u00a0 The Aces were 6 of 16 (.375) from the field, but still cold from 3-point shooting 1 of 6 (.167). Phoenix made 6 of 15 (.400) from the field and 3 of 8 from distance, two of which came in the quarter-closing run. Young scored a high of 7 points and Monique Akoa Makani<\/strong> chipped in 6 for the Merc.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Both teams kept it tight throughout the final frame with the margin no larger than 5 points on either side, and 8 lead changes and 4 ties. The Mercury broke another tie to move in front 75-73 with 4:31 to play. Thirteen seconds later, Young netted a 3 and the Aces never again trailed. Young\u2019s 3 sparked a 7-0 spurt during which three Aces scored and extended the Aces lead to 80-75 with 2:51 left. Phoenix sliced Las Vegas\u2019 lead to as little as one point at 84-83 from a Thomas layup with 30.8 seconds to play. Gray, who tallied 10 points in the final frame, not only scored the last 6 points for the Aces, but with less than a second left (0.8), Gray stole the ball off a Sabally inbound pass, sunk two key free throws to seal the victory 86-83 and blocked a would-be buzzer-beating 3-point attempt by Sabally, who scored a quarter-high 11 points. The Merc hit on 58.5% of their field goal attempts and the Aces made 56.2%. Phoenix made 3 of 8 from 3-point and the Aces were 2 of 4, but the biggest difference was at the line where the Aces made all 6 of their attempts and the Mercury were 1 of 3.<\/p>\n
<\/strong>The ACLU is currently tracking 604 anti-LGBTQ+ bills<\/a> in the United States.<\/p>\n