3 takeaways from Aces’ loss: Team enters break on down note
Becky Hammon called a full timeout 1:09 into the first quarter of the Aces’ 93-85 loss to the Chicago Sky on Tuesday at Michelob Ultra Arena.
The Sky were on a 6-2 run. It was exactly the kind of start the Aces coach wanted to avoid.
“We don’t want to be playing catch up with this team,” Hammon said during her pregame news conference. “Hopefully I don’t have to call the first timeout.”
Chicago increased its lead to as many as 21 points during the first half. The Aces (16-8) rallied to take a 72-71 lead 1:44 into the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t hold on for the win.
A’ja Wilson led the team with 28 points and 14 rebounds. She added three steals, giving her the third-most in franchise history with 248 in her career. Jackie Young scored 17 points for the Aces and Tiffany Hayes had a season-high 19 off the bench.
Chennedy Carter led the way for the Sky, recording 34 points and three steals. Rookie Angel Reese had 13 points and 10 rebounds to record a double-double for the 16th time in her last 17 games.
Here are three takeaways from the loss, which snapped the Aces’ four-game winning streak:
1. Senioritis
Tuesday’s game was the Aces’ last before the All-Star and Olympic break. They won’t play again until August 17.
Hammon said she’s seen good teams suffer a loss right before a respite before. That doesn’t mean she was happy with the Aces’ effort.
“You could just feel they weren’t in the gym,” Hammon said. “Well, they weren’t in the same gym I was in.”
Hammon said the Aces seemed to be mentally resting as soon as the ball was tipped. She was disappointed in the group’s inability to play team basketball.
“Everybody wants to be the it girl,” Hammon said, explaining that players largely looked to score and only tried to pass when they got in trouble.
“I think we kind of needed this to kind of wake us up a little bit,” Wilson said. “When you have games like this, where you kind of get senioritis, it’s kind of helpful to get punched in the mouth, like today.”
2. Martin suffers injury
Aces rookie Kate Martin sustained a non-contact lower right-leg injury with 1:19 left in the first quarter.
The team gathered around the former Iowa standout to block her from cameras before she was helped to the locker room. She returned to the bench, but the Aces said she was out for the rest of the game.
Hammon called Martin “tough” after the game, but her status moving forward has yet to be determined.
Wilson said the team surrounded Martin because they didn’t want her pain to be turned into a meme for social media.
“We’re going to take care of her no matter what,” Wilson said. “Because she’s one of us. She’s someone we’re always going to depend on and count on. But at the same time, cameras can be in your business and we don’t want that. We don’t need that.”
3. Bench impact
The Sky led 41-21 with 4:07 left in the second quarter.
Young helped the Aces chip away at their deficit by scoring 11 of her points in that frame, but the bench played a large role in getting the team back in the game.
Hayes’ offensive explosion was a huge lift. Sydney Colson also provided a spark after entering the game with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter and the Aces trailing 63-52.
Colson drew a foul in transition before long. She also recorded a steal 1:10 into the fourth quarter, was fouled and made both her free throws.
Reserve center Megan Gustafson was the one who gave the Aces their first lead of the game. She made a corner 3-pointer that put her team up 72-71.
“Our bench has always been picking up a lot of slack,” Wilson said. “So we appreciate them, and we lean on them a lot. … But it’s on us as well to not put them in that predicament.”
Contact Callie Lawson-Freeman at clawsonfreeman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.
