Valkyries end road trip with lopsided loss to A’ja Wilson-led Aces

For the last three road games, the shorthanded Valkyries found a way to pull out wins on their tenacity and execution. 

But against a team as star-studded as the Las Vegas Aces, the Valkyries‘ hustle and grit wasn’t enough. 

After falling to the Minnesota Lynx by 53 points at home on national television on Saturday, the Aces bounced back to crush the Valkyries 101-77 on Sunday behind a hot shooting afternoon at Michelob ULTRA Arena. 

There weren’t many positive takeaways in the loss as the Valkyries were dominated from start to finish. 

The Aces made 18-of-40 shots from the 3-point line and totaled 50 bench points. Las Vegas held Golden State to 34.2% shooting from the field.

Iliana Rupert led the Valkyries with 17 points. Carla Leite and Laeticia Amihere each had 14 points. 

Aces star and reigning MVP A’ja Wilson recorded a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds to go along with four steals and a block. Jewell Loyd came off the bench and scored 27 points, which included hitting 7-of-11 shots from beyond the arc.

“We just came out so flat and that was a problem,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. “They came out hot, so credit to the Aces. They did a great job moving the ball. They stayed spaced and they found jewel for the hot hand.”

Golden State suited up just nine players for the third straight game as Tiffany Hayes (left leg), Cecilia Zandalasini, Kayla Thornton (right knee) and Monique Billings (right ankle) were unavailable for Sunday’s game. 

Golden State ended its five-game road trip 3-2. 

“When you when you lose like the Aces did yesterday, they’re going to come back. They’re going to be hungry. They will fight even more,” Rupert said. “From the jump, they were more aggressive. You could see it. And, you know, we also had to be more ready for that.”

The Aces looked poised to avenge Saturday’s loss as they ended the first quarter with a 13-point lead. Las Vegas shot 56.3% from the field and hit 3-of-6 3s in the first period as the Valkyries struggled to get anything going offensively. 

The Aces blew the game open in the second quarter.

Las Vegas held the Valkyries to 25 first-half points as the road team shot 26.5% from the field and 11.8% from the 3-point line. The Valkyries had six first-half turnovers, which included three shot clock violations. 

Frustrations started to boil over toward the end of the half when Janelle Salaün was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and was ejected from the game after shoulder checking Loyd. Salaün is the first player in franchise history to earn an ejection and is the seventh player to be thrown out of a game this season.