Jackie Young scored 21 points and added five assists, pacing the Las Vegas Aces to a 92-73 victory over the Golden State Valkyries on Sunday at Michelob Ultra Arena.
The Aces (12-4 and second place in the Western Conference) held the Valkyries to 30 points in the first half and 17 percent 3-point shooting overall.
“When we play defense, we are just a different animal,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “Our offense gets better; everything is helped when we play that way on the floor.
“We are starting to find and stack quarters of really great defense.”
The victory was Las Vegas’ fourth straight at home and third win over Golden State this season.
With Young’s second assist of the game, she passed Hammon for the second in franchise history and now has 1,137 assists.
The Aces had five players with at least 10 points, including A’ja Wilson, who had 19 points and nine rebounds.
Wilson is now only five points away from passing current teammate Jewell Lloyd for the No.15 spot on the WNBA all-time scoring list.
“We were making good decisions in the half court, and the ball was popping,” guard Chelsea Gray said. “Playing out of our defense is really helpful, and sometimes we’re even passing up open shots, but that is the name of the game. I’d rather that than not passing enough.”
The turning point in the game came in the final seven minutes of the first half, when the Aces went on a 20-2 run, including three 3-pointers, that carried them to a 50-30 lead into halftime.
After shooting under 24% from three-point range in its last two games, Las Vegas had a bounce-back performance by hitting 46% of their 3-pointers (11 of 24).
The Valkyries were led by Cecilia Zandalasini, who had 12 points and three rebounds. They fell to fourth place in the West.
Golden State forward Gabby Williams, who has averaged over 16 points a game, was held to 10 points on 11 field-goal attempts. The Valkyries struggled from long range, making only 1 of 15 3-point attempts in the first half, a 6.7% clip that ranks among the worst 3-point shooting performances in league history.
“They get up a lot of (3-pointers), and they shoot them efficiently,” Hammon said. “We wanted to make sure that they weren’t getting easy or comfortable ones where they get a groove on you quickly.
“I thought we gave them some tough 2s in the first quarter, and they hit them, but it is really hard to win a basketball game when it’s just tough 2s all night. It was a real focus on the defensive end.”
Up next
The Aces will continue their three-game homestand against the New York Liberty, who sit at second place in the East, on Tuesday.
The two teams also will meet on June 30, in the Commissioner’s Cup championship game in Brooklyn, New York.