– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT — The Las Vegas Aces could not have ended the first half any worse, then proceeded to end the second half looking like the champions they are — and hope to remain in one month’s time.
Kelsey Plum scored 27 points, and her assist on Chelsea Gray’s three-pointer with 17.8 seconds remaining was the coup de grâce in the Aces’ 72-67 comeback victory over the Connecticut Sun inside Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night. A’ja Wilson added 20 points and eight rebounds for the Aces, who found themselves down 15 points late in the first half before mounting their furious comeback to make a statement between two WNBA title contenders.
That second-quarter deficit was a byproduct of Las Vegas going 1-for-14 from the field and scoring just nine points in the frame. Two free throws from DiJonai Carrington with 1:47 remaining in the half gave the Sun a 38-23 lead, and though their advantage at halftime was 12 (38-26), they would rue their own poor shooting in the quarter, 2-for-12, as they couldn’t extend their lead further to take advantage of the misfiring Aces.
Las Vegas responded out of the break with a 12-2 run highlighted by a couple of threes from Chelsea Gray, the second of which cutting Connecticut’s lead to 40-38 at the 6:02 mark. DeWanna Bonner responded on the next possession with a three of her own for the Sun, and Connecticut kept the lead throughout the quarter and held a slim 52-49 lead heading into the fourth after Plum beat the buzzer with a jumper.
Bonner’s layup just over a minute into the fourth extended Connecticut’s lead to 56-49, but the game tightened up and, eventually, set up a grandstand finish. Two Wilson free throws with 2:09 remaining gave the Aces their first lead of the second half at 66-65, but two possessions later, Brionna Jones scored off a feed from Alyssa Thomas to reclaim the lead for Connecticut.
Wilson then possessed the ball at the top of the key and started to drive before pulling up at the free-throw line and sinking a jumper with 57.7 seconds remaining to give Las Vegas the lead for good. Another drive, by Plum, set up the game-winner as she kicked the ball out to the right wing for Gray, who knocked down the three that opened up a four-point lead with under 20 seconds to go.
Jones led the Sun with 17 points while Marina Mabrey had 15 points off the bench. Thomas had seven points to go along with 10 rebounds and eight assists — though she also had eight turnovers.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 30 pictures in total.
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