Dallas Wings lose to Las Vegas Aces in season finale

Dallas Wings lose to Las Vegas Aces in season finale

Las Vegas, NV (September 19, 2024) – The Dallas Wings lost a game at the Las Vegas Aces 98-84 on Thursday night, ending the 2024 season. Satou Sabally scored the most points of the game with 25 points, leading the Wings, who had to make do without their regular players Arike Ogunbowale (illness) and Tearia McCowan (suspended).

Sabally added seven rebounds and matched her season-high with seven assists. She was one of five Wings to score in double figures. Jaelyn Brown finished with a personal-best 15 points, Kalani Brown matched her season-high with 13 points and nine rebounds, Natasha Howard added 13 points and Maddy Siegrist finished with 12.

The Wings reached the 30-point mark in the first quarter for the second straight game, and the teams finished the first quarter tied 30-30. Sabally scored 11 points, the most of the game, on 3-3 shooting, including 2-2 from beyond the arc, and grabbed two rebounds and two assists in the first 10 minutes. Siegrist and Howard each contributed seven points.

The Aces opened the second quarter with fire, going on a 9-0 run in the first 1:41 minutes that forced the Wings to take a timeout. Las Vegas’ run extended to 12-0 after the timeout before Siegrist ended the drought with a converted free throw at 7:29 to make the score 42-31 for the Aces.

Dallas cut the gap to seven, 49-42, with 3:52 left in the half on baskets by Jacy Sheldon and Jaelyn Brown. The Aces responded with an 11-0 run, holding the Wings from scoring for nearly three minutes as Vegas’ lead grew to 18 points (60-42). Sabally hit a three-pointer with 1:04 left in the half to bring the halftime score to 60-45 in favor of the home team.

The Wings got within 10 in the third period, but the Aces continued to dominate the three-pointers. After hitting 11 threes in the first 20 minutes, Las Vegas added three more in the third period while allowing Dallas to make just 1 of 2 threes from deep in the period. The Aces led by 20 points after three quarters, 88-68.

The momentum swung in the Wings’ favor in the fourth quarter as Dallas went on a 13-0 run from 8:16 to 4:57 to put the game within single digits for the first time since the three-minute mark in the second quarter, 90-81. The Wings trailed 93-84 with three minutes left, but Dallas was unable to score again for the rest of the game as the Aces scored five more points to secure the win at Michelob ULTRA Arena.

The Wings hit .429 from the field and .450 from the three-point line and .789 from the free throw line. Vegas hit .467 from the field and .405 from the three-point line, but made 15 threes. The Aces also hit 13 of 16 (.812) from the free throw line. Las Vegas won the rebounding battle 38-33 and had a narrow edge in points in the penalty box (38-36) and second chance points (13-10), while Dallas had the edge in fast break points (17-12). Both teams had 13 turnovers.

Megan Gustafson led five Aces with double-digit points and a team-best seven rebounds. Las Vegas was without starters A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young.

Dallas, which was plagued by injuries for much of 2024, finished the season 9-31. Las Vegas (27-13) moved into the first round of the WNBA playoffs as the No. 4 seed, where they faced No. 5 Seattle Storm.