The Las Vegas Aces will aim for a repeat of Friday’s outcome when they visit the Minnesota Lynx for the second time in three days on Sunday.
Friday’s game was also played in Minneapolis and it saw five Aces score in double digits as Las Vegas won 91-85. Chelsea Gray led the Aces with 21 points as Las Vegas beat the Lynx for the third time this season.
Las Vegas (15-5) sits atop the Western Conference standings and is tied with the Chicago Sky for the best record in the WNBA. Minnesota (6-15) had won three of four games before falling to the Aces on Friday.
To prevent losing to the Aces for a fourth time this season, Minnesota will have to be sharper.
“We just weren’t tough enough and in the last five minutes to be able to defend at the level that we needed to be able to,” coach Cheryl Reeve said after Friday’s game. “Obviously it’s a really good team. We’ve not found a way to keep them off of 90 something. We get one more crack at it on Sunday.”
One of the Aces’ standouts on Friday was Dearica Hamby, who tallied 16 points and six rebounds. Hamby recently was named an All-Star reserve, and she agreed to a multi-year contract extension with the Aces on Wednesday.
“She has been a key piece of our core group for several years now, and her energy and hustle will be invaluable to our future success,” Aces general manager Natalie Williams said in a statement.
Both teams head into Sunday’s matchup with no injuries. There will be some pomp and circumstance before the game as the Lynx retire the jersey of Rebekkah Brunson. She retired in February 2020 after helping the Lynx win four WNBA championships and is now with the team as an assistant coach.
She becomes the third member of the Lynx to have her jersey retired, joining Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen.
–Field Level Media
