3 takeaways from Aces’ loss: Young’s shot a fraction too late

Trailing by two with four-tenths of a second remaining Friday, the Aces had a chance to tie or win the game on an inbound play.

All-Star Jackie Young, no stranger to clutch shots, cut toward the right wing and received the pass. She was met by Dallas Wings All-Star forward Satou Sabally and her four-inch height advantage. So Young took a dribble, leaped forward, contorted her body in mid-air and drained the circus shot from beyond the arc.

But the buzzer had already sounded. Young’s prayer was a fraction too late.

The Aces suffered an 80-78 loss to the Wings at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, after Dallas forward Natasha Howard hit two free throws with 0.4 seconds remaining.

The Wings (9-9) ended a nine-game winning streak for the Aces (16-2), who beat Dallas 89-82 on Wednesday at Michelob Ultra Arena.

“Some of the attention to detail, again, was missing,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “We let their size become a factor. We were hesitant and tentative, and that’s really not us offensively.”

Reigning WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson scored 21, and All-Star guard Kelsey Plum — back from a one-game absence because of non-COVID illness — also added 21 points and six assists. All of the Aces’ starters scored in double figures, but the bench was held scoreless for the first time this season. The Aces also had 18 turnovers.

All-Star guard Arike Ogunbowale also scored 21 to lead the Wings. Howard had 16 points, and center Teaira McCowan and guard Crystal Dangerfield each added 14 points.

“It doesn’t really matter how you play if you don’t win, just to be honest” Plum said. “At the end, I felt like we had a chance to still win it, and obviously it didn’t go our way.”

The Aces continue their road trip at 4 p.m. Sunday against the Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

1. Dallas causes problems

The Wings have given the Aces more problems through two games than almost any other team in the league. Dallas’ starting lineup features three players listed at 6 feet, 2 inches or taller. They can get even bigger, too, as 6-7 reserve center Kalani Brown was unavailable with a concussion Wednesday and Friday.

The Wings won the rebounding battle 36-25. Dallas scored 46 points in the paint, 24 more than the Aces, who entered the game averaging 40.6 points in the paint, second-best in the league.

“Offensively and defensively, they muck things up in the paint,” point guard Chelsea Gray said. “They use their length really well.”

2. Sabally shines

The second overall pick in the 2020 WNBA draft, Sabally showed her value against the Aces again. She scored 10 points to go with five rebounds, five assists and five steals while also delaying Young’s attempted game-winner.

Sabally was also effective Wednesday, but had to leave the game at halftime because of a non-COVID illness. The Aces outscored the Wings 47-31 in the second half without her on the court.

3. Clock questions

Young’s heave at the buzzer wasn’t the Aces’ first chance in the final second. On their initial inbound play, Gray tried to find Young over the top near the rim, but the game clock started before anyone touched the ball and expired before Young caught the pass.

The play was voided, and the Aces got a do-over that ended in Young’s failed attempt.

“That is pretty unacceptable,” Hammon said. “That should never happen. I don’t know who did it. I don’t know if it was their clock or an official, but that was pretty close to about as unethical as you can get and as unfortunate as you can get at the end of a game.”

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.