Phoenix Mercury vs Las Vegas Aces Player Game Stats and Box Scores | May 14, 2024

Defending champions Las Vegas Aces began their 2024 WNBA season on a winning note at home. They beat the Phoenix Mercury 89-80 at the Michelob ULTRA Arena on Tuesday night.

Center A'ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum starred in the win as they edged past the experience of Mercury stars Diana Taurasi and Natasha Cloud. The win added to the festivities as the Aces received their 2023 championship rings to celebrate their consecutive titles.

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Phoenix Mercury vs Las Vegas Aces player games stats and box scores

Phoenix Mercury player games stats and box scores

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK
Kahleah Copper	19	4	4	0	0
Rebecca Allen	14	7	2	2	1
Natasha Mack	2	6	5	1	3
Natasha Cloud	14	8	7	1	0
Diana Taurasi	23	3	0	0	0
Sug Sutton	2	1	2	2	0
Liz Dixon	0	3	0	0	0
Sophie Cunningham	6	4	1	0	1
Mikiah Herbert Harrigan	0	1	0	0	1

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Las Vegas Aces player games stats and box scores

Player	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK
Alysha Clark	8	7	0	2	0
Kiah Stokes	2	3	0	0	0
A'ja Wilson	30	13	5	1	3
Jackie Young	23	7	6	3	2
Kelsey Plum	19	3	5	1	0
Megan Gustafson	5	3	0	0	0
Kierstan Bell	0	1	0	0	0
Sydney Colson	2	0	1	0	0

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Phoenix Mercury vs Las Vegas Aces game summary

The Las Vegas Aces picked up from where they left off, with center A'ja Wilson notching up 30 points and 12 rebounds.

Their season opener win wasn't without a challenge, as the Phoenix Mercury staged a late rally in the fourth quarter. Wilson found support, with Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum adding 23 and 19 points respectively.

Veteran Diana Taurasi's 23 points led the Mercury. Kahleah Copper had 19, while Natasha Cloud and Rebecca Allen each chipped in with 14 points. The Aces grabbed an early 21-3 run as Wilson got hot with 17 points in the first quarter. However, Phoenix stayed in the hunt and caught up at halftime, trailing by just one point, 42-41.

The game seemed to be headed to a tight finish close until the fourth quarter when Las Vegas slowly pulled away with an 83-71 lead. The Mercury again rallied by getting nine points to make it a three-point game with 1:17 left on the clock. Kiah Stokes and Young then combined to go 6-for-6 from the charity stripe to seal the win for the Aces.

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The Las Vegas Aces begin their season with a memorable pre-game ring ceremony

Before tip-off, the Aces received their championship rings, and the banner went up the rafters. At the start of the first timeout, the sellout 10,419 crowd sang "We are the champions" as the highest-ever crowd for the team.

The team's minority owner and seven-time NBA Super Bowl champion Tom Brady was in attendance alongside WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce.

According to Bleacher Report, the rings had the team's mantra from last year, "Aces vs. Everybody" and "Back 2 Back" as a tribute to their back-to-back titles, with the "2" shaped in diamonds.

The hardware was made from 14-karat white gold, featuring several white and black diamonds and rubies throughout, along with personalized touches for each of the players' part of their title runs.