Wilson and Young Cannot Save Aces From Losing To Mystics at Home

The Las Vegas Aces played terrible defense and lost to the Washington Mystics at the Michelob Ultra Arena Thursday night. Despite good games from A'ja Wilson and Jackie Young, the defense failed to appear once again.

Jun 26, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Washington Mystics guard Sug Sutton (1) drives the ball past Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young (0) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game at Michelob Ultra Arena. | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Aces saw their two-game winning streak come to an end as they lost to the Washington Mystics 94-83 Thursday night at the Michelob Ultra Arena.

The Aces drop to 7-8 on the season, while Washington improves to 8-8.

The Mystics were led by rookie Sonia Citron who poured in 21 points. Center Shakira Austin chimed in with 13 points and grabbed 13 boards to attain the double-double for Washington.

The difference in the game was the Mystics shot 52 percent from 3-point territory.

"I just let the game come to me," Citron said following the game. "I try not to force anything. I play off of my teammates and we were all there for each other and played hard for one another."

The Aces were led by their leading scorer and three-time league Most Valuable Player A'ja Wilson who scored 22 points and had five rebounds. Jackie Young added 13 points with four rebounds and five assists.

After the game, Aces coach Becky Hammon said the team is not performing the basics well. She said they are not executing the fundamentals.

"It's very elementary. We will continue to drown in two feet of water," Hammon said. "I see greatness and I see disappointment. We have to master the basics. My team has not mastered them as of yet."

Asked what her team could do better next time out, Hammon said she needs to see more effort from her starters.

"We can start by playing hard. Let's start there," Hammon said. "We played eight quarters against this team and we played hard two quarters. There's no easy games in this league as there are too many good players. You can't play 20 good minutes and expect to win."

Young was not pleased after the game. She said the team needs better chemistry.

"There was no togetherness defensively," Young said. "It's on the defensive end. We can't do transition like that."

Young said the reason the Mystics shot so well from long-distance was because they were not challenged by the Aces. That seems to be a recurring problem this season.

"Everybody has a great game against us. They got easy looks," Young said. "You give a good player wide-open 3-point shots and they are going to make them."