Wilson scored 32 and it was not enough
A’ja Wilson shot 10-of-15 from the floor, made 11 of her 12 free throws, pulled down seven rebounds and finished with 32 points. Las Vegas lost anyway. Minnesota won 92-87 in Las Vegas on Saturday night, a week after beating the same opponent in Minnesota.
Olivia Miles did the damage that mattered. Twenty-three points, eight assists, and a Rookie of the Year argument that is getting harder to talk around. Natasha Howard added 13 points and 11 rebounds, nine of those points arriving in a first quarter that put the Lynx up 23-19.
Napheesa Collier scored 19. Kayla McBride had 13. Nia Coffey and Courtney Williams contributed 12 apiece. Minnesota is 29-7, has won four straight and 14 of its last 15.
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The third quarter decided it, twice
The first half was a coin flip. The score was tied 10 times, and Wilson’s jumper with 34 seconds left made it 48-48 at the interval.
Collier opened the second half with the first four points and Minnesota led 52-48. Wilson answered from the line to make it 52-50. Then the Lynx put together a 10-2 run, Coffey’s three-pointer taking them to 62-52 and sending Las Vegas to a timeout with 5:46 left in the quarter.
The Aces clawed back to 62-59. Minnesota closed the quarter on a 12-5 run and went into the fourth up 74-64.
Las Vegas got one more shot at it
The champions opened the fourth with a 9-0 run. Chelsea Gray’s jumper made it 74-73 with 7:27 on the clock and the arena had a game again.
Collier hit back-to-back three-pointers. That was the answer. Minnesota led 80-73 with 6:48 to play and never gave the lead back. Collier’s two free throws with 8.3 seconds left closed it out.
Las Vegas falls to 24-12 and a two-game winning run is over. NaLyssa Smith finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, Gray had 12 and Jewell Loyd 10. The reigning champions have now lost to Minnesota twice in eight days, the second time in their own building.
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