Aces’ road trip continues against 2025 No. 1 WNBA pick, Wings

ACES GAME DAY

■ Who: Aces at Dallas Wings

■ When: 1 p.m. Sunday

■ Where: College Park Center, Dallas

■ TV: KMCC-34

■ Radio: KWWN (1100 AM, 100.9 FM)

■ About the Aces (12-13): The Aces have just one day to recover from back-to-back losses before their four-game road trip continues against the Wings.

Their sole three-game win streak of the season was thwarted by an 80-70 loss to the Indiana Fever on Thursday. Less than 24 hours later, the Lynx handed the Aces a 109-78 defeat for their worst loss of the season.

The Aces’ leading scorers are reigning MVP A’ja Wilson (22.3 points per game) and Jackie Young (16.8 ppg).

Wilson also leads the Aces in rebounds (9.1 per game, second in WNBA), steals (1.6 per game) and blocks (2.3 per game, No. 1 in WNBA).

Point guard Chelsea Gray is averaging 4.5 assists per game, a career-low since her second season in the league in 2016. She had no assists against the Lynx.

Gray’s assist numbers aren’t surprising given the Aces’ offensive struggles this season. They are the third-worst team in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (31.9 percent) and field goal percentage (41.5 percent).

Guard Jewell Loyd hit a new low of zero points in Minnesota, recording her sixth game this season with five or less points.

When asked how the Aces will attempt to bounce back with such little turnaround, Aces coach Becky Hammon explained a gentle philosophy.

“You get up the next day, and you go to work. You keep teaching, you keep coaching, and you keep encouraging and you keep trying to will them there. That’s the only way I know,” she said. “You correct them and you love on them hard, and you just keep at it.”

The Aces are currently 2-0 in their regular-season series against the Wings. In their last matchup on July 16, a 90-85 win, forward NaLyssa Smith played her first game against her former team since the Aces traded for her last month.

It took Smith just one game to replace veteran center Kiah Stokes in the starting lineup. In eight appearances, Smith is averaging 7.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

■ About the Wings (7-18): The Wings have won just one of their last five games, most recently taking an 87-76 loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Friday night.

Pagie Bueckers, the 2025 No. 1 overall pick out of UConn, leads Dallas in scoring (18.1 ppg) and assists (5.6 apg). The All-Star rookie is the first player in WNBA history to total at least 350 points and 100 assists in the first 20 games of their career.

Guard Arike Ogunbowale is averaging a career-low 15.9 points per game, and Myisha Hines-Allen is the team’s leading rebounder with 5.3 per game.

Although the Wings’ record is the second-worst in the WNBA, they stunned the No. 4 team in the league’s standings on Tuesday with an 87-63 win over the Seattle Storm.

Callie Fin Las Vegas Review-Journal

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.

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