3 takeaways from the Aces’ 80-63 win over the Liberty

Ever since the Aces arrived in the bubble, the have stated their primary goal was to earn a spot in the WNBA playoffs.

Las Vegas clinched a postseason berth Saturday, when it outscored the New York Liberty 24-7 in the fourth quarter of an 80-63 win at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

“Coming into this thing, you never knew what was going to happen, so we’ll take it,” Las Vegas coach Bill Laimbeer said. “Now it’s about seeding and trying to win every game that we can.”

The Aces (12-3) are a half-game behind the Seattle Storm for first place in the WNBA standings. Those two teams were scheduled to play Thursday, but all games were postponed. That game has been rescheduled for Sept. 13, which will be the regular-season finale for both teams.

A’ja Wilson had 20 points, seven rebounds and five blocks, and Dearica Hamby finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Aces, who shot 38.0 percent for the game from the floor but limited New York to 33.3 percent.

Amanda Zahui B set a franchise record with 21 rebounds for the Liberty (2-13), which was led in scoring by Paris Kea’s 14 points.

Wright helps Aces lock in

Assistant coach Tanisha Wright didn’t think the Aces were playing with the necessary energy, especially defensively, and she let them know that.

During the break between the third and fourth quarters and the game tied at 56, Wright “just went off on them and called them all kinds of nasty, ugly names,” Laimbeer said.

Las Vegas clearly got the message, holding the Liberty scoreless for the first 4:36 of the quarter as part of a 21-2 run.

“She said there’s nothing they can do gameplan-wise and how we were being lazy on the defensive end,” Hamby said. “You need to lock in, and it got us going. She’s a former player, and we have a lot of respect for her, so we needed that. It got us jump-started.”

Sugar’s sweet shooting night

One of the biggest reasons for the Aces’ success throughout the season has been a different player off the bench giving them a big game.

It was Sugar Rodgers’ turn Saturday, when she was 4-for-9 from 3-point range for 12 points.

“When I get an open shot, I just take it, be confident and knock it down,” Rodgers said. “When you say 4-for-9, I cringe because I would rather be 50 percent. But it’s just about my teammate believing in me and me knocking it down.”

Rodgers’ contributions were key, since fellow bench standouts Danielle Robinson and Jackie Young were 3-for-14 for eight points combined. Robinson had six assists and no turnovers.

Back-to-back big games

The Aces are the only team in the league that will close the season with games on back-to-back days, and they both could be key to the final standings.

They will meet the Los Angeles Sparks on Sept. 12, the day before facing the Storm. The Storm, Aces and Sparks are among the teams fighting it out for the top two spots and to avoid one-game playoff scenarios.

Before Saturday’s game, Laimbeer called having to play a back-to-back “unfortunate” and that it was another instance of the league “sticking it to Las Vegas all the time.”

Up next

The Aces will face the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday. The Mercury won the first meeting 102-95 on July 31.

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2936. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter