Aces’ season hits new low in 53-point loss to Lynx

Aces point guard Chelsea Gray found herself on the wrong end of a mismatch as time waned in the first quarter Saturday. Lynx forward Napheesa Collier drove into her for a pull-up jumper at the top of the key.

After letting her fingers dangle in the air from the follow-through of her shot, Collier bent over and gestured toward the floor in Gray’s direction. It was a classic celebration calling Gray “too small” to guard her — the first of many taunts as the Lynx clowned the Aces in what became a historically bad 111-58 loss at Michelob Ultra Arena.

Embarrassment was the theme of the matchup for the Aces (14-14). They simply watched as Lynx reserve guard Natisha Hiedeman took a break from her dribble to sing along to Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” with teammate Courtney Williams before continuing to move the ball up the court in a show of how seriously they weren’t taking the game.

“Let me tell you, this is the first time I’ve ever lost like that,” Aces guard Jewell Loyd said afterward. “Obviously, it’s not a great feeling. … But we can’t change it, right? All we have to do is go back to the drawing board.”

Loyd, who led the Aces in scoring with 12 points in her third game off the bench, is right that she’s never taken a loss quite as dramatic as Saturday’s.

The 53-point blowout set a new record for the largest road margin of victory in WNBA history — a mark that was previously set by the Houston Comets with a 45-point win in 1998.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

Poor defense, historic shooting performance

Guard Kayla McBride led the Lynx (24-5) with 24 points. She scored all of those in the first half as the only player in WNBA history to go a perfect 8 of 8 from the 3-point line over two quarters. She was one 3-pointer short of tying the league record of 9 3s in a game, which has been accomplished by four other players, including Loyd with the Storm on June 11, 2023.

Although the Aces scored the first points of the game with a NaLyssa Smith bucket, the Lynx got off to an 8-0 run with back-to-back steals and forced coach Becky Hammon to call the first timeout.

It didn’t make a difference, as the Aces trailed by 18 points at the end of the quarter and 34 points by halftime.

After the loss, Hammon condemned the Aces’ defense while crediting the Lynx for their shooting (59.2 percent from the field and 63 percent from 3).

“Today, we ran into a buzz saw. I mean, they make 13 out of 14 (first half 3-pointers). You’re not doing that as a group very often, even if you’re just warming up,” Hammon said. “However, we started the oven for them. They were on a heater, and we lit the gas up by being out of position. We’re beat in the first action, and it’s just catch-up. … We did everything at a Grade F today.”

Wilson-Collier matchup disappoints

The Aces are on a six-game losing streak to the Lynx dating to last season. Aces star A’ja Wilson was sidelined with a concussion for the first game against the Lynx this year, a 76-62 loss on June 17.

The Aces then took a 31-point loss in their last meeting on July 25, and Wilson sat for the entire fourth quarter of that blowout. The same was true Saturday. As such, fans have still yet to enjoy a full head-to-head matchup between Wilson and Collier. They’re the league’s leading scorers this season, with Wilson as the reigning WNBA MVP and Collier the favorite for the 2025 award.

In 21 minutes Saturday, Wilson scored 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting. Hammon took all of her starters out with 5:22 remaining in the third quarter.

Collier finished with 18 points but only had four in the first half. She was still on the court with less than a minute left in the third quarter despite the Lynx leading by more than 40 points and sustained a right ankle injury while padding her stats.

She went down after colliding with teammate Alanna Smith in pursuit of a rebound and landing on her foot. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said Collier will undergo testing but said it was “too early” to know her status.

Leaguewide struggles

The Aces have beaten some of the league’s strongest teams in convincing fashion this year while also taking the most blowout losses ever seen under Hammon’s leadership.

While things have been especially rocky for the Aces, backup center Megan Gustafson asserted that this year has been a roller coaster for the entire WNBA.

“We just have to throw it in the trash,” she said of the most recent loss. “In this entire league, you see people losing to people they shouldn’t be all the time. It’s not like this is an anomaly right now. It’s all across the league, and every single team is struggling with it.”

The Aces won’t have to ruminate on the latest defeat for long, as the host the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday at 3 p.m.

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