Agent 0 delivers Aces' first home win
· Yahoo Sports
LAS VEGAS – The Aces were staring down the barrel of a third straight home defeat to start the season on Saturday.
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The champs trailed the Golden State Valkyries by a couple of possessions down the stretch of their Commissioner’s Cup clash at the Michelob ULTRA Arena, and things were starting to look a little bleak once again.
As Becky Hammon pointed out during practice on Friday, the Aces had lost six of their nine fourth quarters heading into this one. And those demons were creeping back in until Las Vegas hit the big red ‘Agent 0’ button.
It was a ‘break glass in case of emergency’ situation, and Jackie Young answered the call. She poured in 14 of her 27 points in the fourth quarter, guiding the Aces (7-3) to their seventh win of the campaign — and the first at home.
Young produced her season-high in scoring right when the Aces needed her most. She went 8-15 from the field and a sizzling 6-8 from beyond the arc. She was the perfect complement to another stellar outing from A’ja Wilson — who led all scorers with 28 points. Wilson completed her double-double with 14 rebounds. Young added five boards and five assists.
Agent 0 back on track
Young started the season off slowly — by her standards. Averaging 12.2 points per game through 10, the Aces were able to find a way to navigate through Young’s scoring struggles.
Young’s tough stretch hit its nadir on May 17 and May 23 — when she went back-to-back games without scoring a single point. However, since then, it has been back to business as usual for the former No. 1 pick.
Over the last four games, Young is averaging just north of 20 points, and with her scoring catching up to her ever-improving playmaking, the Aces are an even scarier force to be reckoned with.
Young took a moment to reflect on everything that she has had to go through to get to this point after scoring 14 of the Aces’ last 21 points in the fourth quarter against the Valkyries. Young went 3-3 from deep and 5-5 at the line in the fourth. She had 22 points in the second half.
“It’s hard to do what I do on the court when I’m feeling heavy,” she said. “I was just kind of trying to balance (life and basketball) and take some time to get back to myself. My teammates were there for me throughout the process, so shoutout to them, the coaching staff, my family, and friends for helping me and being there by my side.
“There’s a lot of talk when things like that happen, but I’m human, and we all go through stuff. I don’t think it was necessarily a basketball thing. I’ve been putting in the work, I always put in the work. It was just about getting past that heavy part.”
Never a doubt
Not only did Young deliver the goods for the Aces, she did so in a huge spot, when the game was completely hanging in the balance.
After the Aces took a narrow 38-35 lead into half-time, behind 20 points on 7-11 shooting from Wilson, the back-and-forth pattern continued in the third and fourth quarters. The hosts just outscored the Valkyries 46-44 in the second half to secure the all-important win.
The magnitude of Young’s performance grows greater when you consider that Wilson took just one shot in the third quarter and only five more in the fourth — with the Valkyries determined to get beat by anyone but the four-time MVP.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Young was there when the Aces called and arrived right on time. She hit big shot after big shot, proving her worth once again — not that Hammon needed her to.
“There was never a doubt about Jackie Young in my mind,” Hammon said. “I see her work too much, and I have an unbelievable belief in her. I think she’s awesome.
“There is just a human element where life be lifing, and (the players) have to work through that stuff, and you just have to support and encourage them along the way. But there was never a doubt that (she was going to be fine). Her work is too good. It was just a matter of time.”
Resolve tested
The Aces’ resolve was tested on both sides of the ball by an extremely game Valkyries team. Gabby Williams gave Las Vegas all it could handle with 27 points, while Veronica Burton chipped in with 15.
However, the Aces stumbled but did not fall. And that’s exactly what Hammon wanted to see from her group late in a close game. They had let one too many of those slip and getting this victory over the line sure felt good.
“We just closed better,” Hammon said. “We started the fourth giving up a couple of threes, which sent me over the moon and back again, but we closed. We started defending a little bit better. And we just found a way to win. That’s another skill of a great team. But I’m still going to be on them about those fourth quarter W’s. We have to start winning more of those.”
Gray back in the record books
Chelsea Gray’s six assists against the Valkyries saw her pass Hammon (1,133 atop the franchise all-time leaderboard. Gray added 12 points, 6 rebounds, and a pair of steals.
Hammon joked that she’s going to have to lace them up again since all of her records are being broken. On a serious note, the Aces’ coach was happy to see Gray overtake her, saying that records are meant to be broken and that she was hoping that this generation of players would be better than hers.
Gray was solely focused on getting the win. She said she was aware that she was close to the record but was glad she forgot about it before the game.
Up next for the defending champions, the Aces will host the Seattle Storm (3-9) — who have lost their last five — on Monday night.