Plum, Wilson help the Aces rout the Sun 102-84 in a matchup of the WNBA's top teams

Jul 1, 2023, 11:14 pm

LAS VEGAS -- — Kelsey Plum scored 25 points and A'ja Wilson added 23 points and 12 rebounds to help the Las Vegas Aces rout the Connecticut Sun 102-84 on Saturday in a matchup of the top teams in the WNBA.

It was the eighth straight victory for the Aces (15-1), who avenged their only loss of the season. Connecticut (12-5) was able to win that game because of a career-high and franchise-record 41 points by DeWanna Bonner. Las Vegas hasn't lost since thanks in big part to the play of Wilson, the league's reigning MVP.

She had another strong game one day after signing a two-year contract extension.

Just as they did against New York two days earlier, the Aces blew open the game at the start of the third quarter. Las Vegas scored the first 17 points of the period to turn a 11-point advantage to 76-48.

The Sun finally ended the run with DiJonai Carrington's 3-pointer with 4:31 left in the third quarter. Things got worse for Connecticut a minute later when Tiffany Hayes was ejected by official Clare Aubry when the Sun guard made money signs after she was called for a foul.

“They said something about doing a money sign or something. I don't know,” Connecticut coach Stephanie White said. “We were not told that anything like this was an automatic ejection.”

Hayes declined to comment on the play after the game.

Connecticut never recovered from the spurt.

Alyssa Thomas, who had a triple-double in each of their previous two games and became the career leader in the stat with five now in the regular season, had 12 points, 11 assists and five rebounds for the Sun.

Bonner finished with 19 points. Both were also chosen as All-Star reserves Saturday.

Plum, who was the MVP of last year's All-Star Game also was picked as a reserve. She helped Las Vegas get out a strong start again with 10 points in the first quarter.

The coaches Saturday will be back in two weeks coaching in the All-Star Game on July 15. Becky Hammon will be coaching the game for the second consecutive year, leading Wilson's team. White will be coaching in the game for the first time when she leads Breanna Stewart's squad.