Aces hold off Valkyries behind A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young

A'ja Wilson had 28 points and 14 rebounds, Jackie Young scored 27 and the host Las Vegas Aces held off the Golden State Valkyries 84-79 on Saturday afternoon.

Chelsea Gray added 12 points for the Aces (7-3), who won at home for the first time in three games this season.

Gabby Williams scored a career-high 27 points, Veronica Burton added 15 points, Janelle Salaun scored 11 and Kayla Thornton had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Valkyries (6-5).

The Valkyries took a 61-58 lead early in the fourth quarter, their first lead since the score was 2-0. The score was tied three times before Burton converted a three-point play and Williams added a 3-pointer to give Golden State a 76-72 lead with three minutes remaining.

Young made three free throws, and Wilson added a jumper to give Las Vegas a one-point lead with 52 seconds left. Burton scored on a drive, but Young answered with a 3-pointer that gave the Aces an 80-78 lead with 24 seconds left.

Burton was fouled with 9.9 seconds left, giving the Valkyries a chance to tie, but she made just one of the two free throws and Young made two free throws for a three-point lead with 7.2 seconds left.

Salaun missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer and Wilson made two free throws with 2.4 seconds left.

Williams converted a three-point play to even the score at 40 early in the third quarter. The Aces scored the next five points, but Williams answered with four straight points to trim the lead to one.

Young made two 3-pointers to help Las Vegas take a 53-46 lead. Burton scored six points and Golden State trimmed the lead to 58-55 at the end of the third quarter.

The score was tied three times before Wilson made a jumper and Gray added a 3-pointer to give Las Vegas a 12-9 lead.

Kiah Stokes made a layup for Golden State, but Wilson scored the Aces' last eight points to give them a 20-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Gray made a 3-pointer to start the second-quarter scoring, but Thornton answered with Golden State's next eight points to trim the lead to 25-21. The lead grew to 12 before the Valkyries scored nine straight and climbed within 38-35 at halftime.

--Field Level Media