Foul-prone Aces out to bounce back vs. Wings

Field Level Media|published: Tue 4th June, 16:12 2024

Sep 24, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) shoots the ball against Dallas Wings forward Natasha Howard (6) during game one of the 2023 WNBA Semifinals at Michelob Ultra Arena. The Aces defeated the Wings 97-83. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off a very atypical game, the Las Vegas Aces aim to get back in the win column Wednesday night with a visit to the Dallas Wings at Arlington, Texas.

Las Vegas (4-2) hasn't played since a 78-74 road loss Friday to the Atlanta Dream that was marked by two rare occurrences -- a relative lack of scoring and a whole lot of fouling.

The Aces, who average a league-high 87 points per game, were held to their lowest point total in the regular season since Washington limited them to 62 last Aug. 26 in a loss. More importantly, they were whistled for 25 fouls that enabled the Dream to make 26 of 29 at the foul line.

Not since 2021 has Las Vegas committed that many fouls in a game.

"Bottom line is this: If you're going to have bad nights like that, you can't combine bad shooting with fouling," Aces coach Becky Hammon said. "We sent them to the line almost 30 times, which is almost a free throw per minute."

With Chelsea Gray (leg) still on the sidelines, Las Vegas has been carried by A'ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum. Wilson is averaging 26.5 points and 12.5 rebounds, while Young has 20.7 points and 7.7 assists. Plum is kicking in 18.7 points and 5.7 assists.

Dallas (3-4) is coming off an 87-76 defeat Sunday at Minnesota despite 21 points from Arike Ogunbowale. She also had six rebounds, six assists and a career-best six steals but also committed 10 of the Wings' 25 turnovers.

Ogunbowale has played some of her best basketball early for a team missing core players Satou Sabally and Natasha Howard because of injuries. Ogunbowale is averaging 26.6 points to go along with 4.9 assists and 2.9 steals.

"She's just a great player," the Wings' Maddy Siegrist said of Ogunbowale. "What she's able to do for our team, this program, women's basketball in general ... it's just great to have somebody like that. And she's a great leader."

This is the first meeting between the teams since the Aces completed a 3-0 sweep of Dallas last year in the WNBA semifinals.

--Field Level Media

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