Aces' Nye Puts Team On Her Back And Leads Team To Victory

The Las Vegas Aces crawled back to .500 with an 84-81 win over the Phoenix Mercury at the PHX Arena. For the Mercury, the loss snapped a six-game winning streak.

Looking at the box score, it would appear A'ja Wilson had a great game and led her team to the win. She scored 26 points Sunday night and added 18 rebounds and seven assists.

Great game. Far from it.

She scored the go-ahead basket with 22 second left to provide the margin of victory. However, she was 8-of-19 shooting from the field and could not get things going on the offensive end. Wilson was flawless from the line as she hit 10-of-11 from the charity stripe.

She turned in a typical statistical performance, but it was the type of night that looks better on paper than it does on film.

"It's just one game," Wilson said after the game. "I have to remain calm for my teammates. This is a learning experience for everyone. We are just not great right now."

Wilson scored on a layup after a pretty feed from Chelsea Gray to put the Aces up 83-81. Jackie Young then pulled down an offensive board and Aaliyah Nye nailed a free throw for the final point with 7.1 seconds.

The Mercury had a chance to tie, but could not get a good looks at the basket as the Aces played tenacious defense.

The star of the night was Nye. The rookie from Alabama was 5-of-7 from 3-point range and scored 16 points. Young added 15 points and dished out six assists, while Jewell Loyd chimed in with 10.

Nye, who goes by the nickname of Roll Tide, was praised by Wilson, one of the true superstars in the league.

"I am so super proud of Roll Tide. This was a big moment for her," Wilson said. "We have every confidence in her when she has the ball in her hands."

Aces coach Becky Hammon agreed.

"She was good tonight, every time she shoots, I think she's going to make it," Hammon said. "She gives us the necessary room to operate and takes some of the load off of A'ja in the middle."

Nye was sparkling in the postgame press conference.

"It feels great to have a night like tonight, but it feels better to get the win," Nye said. "I just try to do what my team needs me to do. I want to win for this team."

Nye said she took what the defense gave her.

"They left me wide open and I had a lot of good looks at the basket," Nye said. "My teammates were finding me tonight. I trust my teammates."

Hammon was pleased with the win and thinks this could set the tone for the rest of the roadtrip, which continues Thursday night at Indiana.

"The Mercury are probably the hottest team in the league right now," Hammon said. "I will take 21-19-10 over the first three quarters every night in this league."

The Aces only gave up those point totals in the first three periods, before losing their lead in the early part of the fourth quarter when Phoenix went on a 9-0 run to begin the quarter. They took a 67-62 lead in the fourth as the lead changed hands on five different occasions over the final 10 minutes.

For the Mercury (12-5), Alyssa Thomas scored 16 points, added seven rebounds and eight assists. Kahleah Cooper added 15 points, while Sami Whitcomb contributed 14 points with four 3-point field goals.

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