Rickea Jackson leads hot-shooting Sparks past Aces
LAS VEGAS — Rickea Jackson had the hot hand for the Sparks on Wednesday night.
Jackson scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Azura Stevens had 19 points and 10 rebounds and the Sparks scorched the nets early before holding on to beat the Las Vegas Aces, 97-89, on Wednesday at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
The Aces were without three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson for the final 11 minutes of the game after she left with 1:17 left in the third quarter with a head injury. She was accidentally hit in the face on a drive to the basket by Sparks forward Dearica Hamby.
Jackson shot 11 for 17 from the field, including 4 for 8 from 3-point range, and went 4 for 5 at the free-throw line to top her previous best of 25 points against Dallas last season.
Hamby scored 19 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists for the Sparks (4-7). Kelsey Plum had 13 points and nine assists in her second game in Las Vegas since being traded to the Sparks in the offseason.
The Sparks shot 56.9% from the field, including a 9-for-20 showing from 3-point range and outrebounded the Aces 38-28.
Jackie Young tied her career high with 34 points and Chelsea Gray made six 3-pointers and added 28 points for Las Vegas (4-4), which has lost two straight games. Wilson was 2 for 12 from the field and 9 for 10 at the free-throw line to finish with 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots in 28 minutes.
Young, who added eight rebounds, four assists and three steals, scored 14 straight Las Vegas points in the second quarter.
A 3-pointer by Gray pulled Las Vegas within 60-56 with 3:11 left in the third quarter, but the Sparks scored seven of the next 10 points with Jackson’s three-point play giving the Sparks a 67-59 lead with 1:12 remaining.
The Sparks led 71-65 entering the fourth quarter but opened a 14-point lead before the midway point of the period. Hamby made back-to-back shots to start a 10-2 run and Jackson’s basket finished it to give the Sparks an 86-72 lead with 5:22 left.
The Aces made a charge and used a 3-pointer from Gray and a basket by Young to move within 93-87 with 1:44 left.
Plum put the game away with two free throws with 20.1 seconds left. Plum made all nine of her free throws.
The Sparks were especially hot over the first 14 minutes, making 15 of their first 18 field goal attempts (83.3%), including 7 of 8 from 3-point range, on their way to a 39-19 lead in the second quarter. Las Vegas responded with an 11-0 run to get back in the game.
The Sparks finished with 24 assists on their 33 field goals while going 22 for 27 from the free-throw line.
The Aces shot just 37.5% from field, including 9 for 35 from behind the arc. They went 26 for 29 from the free-throw line.
The Sparks improved to 2-2 in Commissioner’s Cup play, while the Aces dropped to 1-2.