A’ja Wilson silenced Wintrust Arena.
After Sky guard Chennedy Carter’s game-tying three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left, the Aces called a timeout to advance the ball and design a play.
Wilson, a two-time WNBA MVP, received a back screen from guard Kelsey Plum, forcing a switch that took rookie Angel Reese off her.
The screen left guard Lindsay Allen to contest Wilson at the rim, and the smaller guard was no match for Wilson, who scored the game-winning basket in the Aces’ 77-75 victory Sunday against the Sky.
It was flawless execution by the Aces, who handed the Sky their second straight two-point loss. They also lost 82-80 to the Sun on Friday.
“Just trying to fight, trying to battle through no-calls and get these wins, and not coming out with the ‘W,’ it hurts me,” said Carter, who scored a game-high 25 points. “Just got to go back to the drawing board.”
The Sky put together a strong performance for the first 30 minutes but struggled in the fourth quarter. The Aces went on a 22-6 run from the 0:54 mark in the third quarter to the 4:57 mark in the fourth quarter.
That stretch came with Wilson on the bench for most of it. Regardless, the Aces increased their lead to 13 points.
The Sky played better than they did Friday. They cut down on their turnovers (10), made more three-pointers than the Aces and limited Las Vegas’ trips to the free-throw line (10). The effort was there from the Sky, but the result remained the same. They simply couldn’t get it done against a championship-level team and lost another winnable game.
“We don’t give in,” Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said. “We continue to fight because we believe when there’s time on the clock, we still have an opportunity to win games, and I think it showed big-time today against a championship basketball team. It showed a lot about who we are and what we can do.”
The Sky’s rookies — Reese and center Kamilla Cardoso — are showing signs of positive development. Cardoso had eight points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. She was often matched up with Wilson and guarded her well, even blocking her shot twice.
Reese already has shown that she’s one of the best rebounders in the WNBA — she had a career-high 22 boards and added 11 points — and her relentless playing style fits the team’s identity. But the Sky (11-18) are in a battle for that last playoff spot with the Dream (10-18), and every missed opportunity is huge.
“To be in a position where we could have won the game and come up short, it’s frustrating as an athlete, as a competitor,” said Michaela Onyenwere, who scored 15 points and shot 6-for-13. “But we don’t have time, as well. We’re in the home stretch of the season right now.”
The Sky have 11 regular-season games left.
“At the end of the day, when that square clock goes off and time goes down, it gets to zero, and you don’t have that ‘W,’ it hurts,” Weatherspoon said. “It freaking hurts, especially when [the players] work that hard.
Cardoso was outstanding defensively against the Aces with a career-high five blocks in addition to eight points and 12 rebounds.
GM Jeff Pagliocca has a wealth of draft picks over the next two seasons in charting the team’s course.
“We didn’t really do what we talked about doing in practice and shootaround and according to the scouting report,” guard Lindsay Allen said. “Just locking in on that and continuing to do it consistently has been an issue for us all season.”