A’ja Wilson put up 27 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and her Las Vegas Aces overpowered the Toronto Tempo en route to an 88-78 victory in Vancouver on Sunday.
Jackie Young added 21 points for the Aces (26-13), who have locked up their playoff spot but remain five games back of the league-leading Minnesota Lynx.
Canadian Kia Nurse led the Tempo (11-26) with 19 points, four assists and four rebounds, while rookie Kiki Rice poured in 14 points.
Las Vegas pulled out to a 10-point lead late in the second quarter when NaLyssa Smith picked off a ball deep in Aces’ territory and sprinted down the court to put a shot in.
Toronto responded with just 3.4 seconds left in the first half when Rice stole a pass in Toronto’s paint and streaked up the floor, finding an open Nurse for an easy basket that cut the Tempo’s deficit to 43-39 heading into the halftime break.
Canada’s only WNBA squad lost yet another player to injury when point guard Julie Allemand (head) went to the locker room with less than two minutes to go in the first half. She did not return to the game.
The Tempo bench was whittled to eight players earlier in the day when head coach Sandy Brondello announced guard Brittney Sykes (left foot) and forward Aneesah Morrow (left knee) had picked up season-ending ailments against Portland.
The game wrapped Toronto’s Cross Canada series, which also included an 82-79 win over the Portland Fire in Vancouver on Friday and a pair of games at Montreal’s Bell Centre in July.
Tempo: Struggled to make shots, going 29-for-66 from field-goal range across the night and started to show signs of fatigue in the fourth, getting outscored 12-4 over the first four minutes of the quarter.
Aces: Wilson, who was listed as questionable before the game, continued to be a dominant force. The 30-year-old power forward chalked up nine points, three rebounds and two assists in the first quarter alone.
The Aces took the lead at the 2:20 mark of the first when Stephanie Talbot hit a three-pointer to set the tone for the game.
An announced crowd of 15,877 took in the game at Rogers Arena, making for a total of 28,291 fans at the two Vancouver games.
Aces: Host the Toronto Tempo on Friday.
Tempo: Visit the Seattle Storm on Wednesday.