Jackie Young Records First Career Triple-Double in Aces' Win Over Sparks
Jackie Young has been a vital piece to the Las Vegas Aces as they make a run towards the playoffs. The former first overall pick goes for a Triple-Double — her first in 226 career games. In a dual-dominant effort with A'ja Wilson, Jackie scores a +28 plus/minus rating to put the Aces back over .500 (14-13). Becky Hammon has been asking her team to step it up, and they have answered the call.
The stat-line for Jackie Young was 18 Pts - 11 Reb - 11 Ast on top of 3 steals. She shot 8-17 from the field, including 2-7 from three, and did this all without attempting a single free throw. Her sidekick, A'ja Wilson, also went for a dominant double-double — 36 Pts and 10 Rebounds. The duo have been the dominant usage-players all season and it has gone a long way. The need Young and Wilson to achieve these feats to compete with the league-best teams.
The Aces now move to 5-2 in their last seven games, where those two losses came to the leagues better teams, the Lynx and Fever. They have stood their ground where they have been expected. Into the All-Star Break, the Aces had sat at 8th in the WNBA standings but another key victory puts them up the 7th. They seek playoff security and they have the opportunity to gain more of it.
The Aces sit in 7th place, but they are just 0.5 games behind the Indiana Fever, and 1.5 games to the Dream. The Aces next week looks as: Aug-2 vs Minnesota Lynx, Aug-3 & Aug-6 vs Mystics, Aug-8 vs Storm. The schedule is not easy, but will bring out the best in the Las Vegas Aces. If they can upset the Lynx, it will provide a massive momentum boost down the stretch.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.