A’ja Wilson drops 45, but Connecticut Sun give Las Vegas Aces a fight in 101-94 loss

With both Griner and Nelson-Ododa out, coach Meziane overhauled his starting five. Van Lith made the first start of her WNBA career running point, and 2026 first-round pick Gianna Kneepkens earned her first start. Aaliyah Edwards, who started the first preseason game, also stepped back into the starting lineup in her return. Rivers came off the bench for the first time this season alongside forward Aneesah Morrow.

The starting group struggled as Wilson dominated the paint early. The Aces’ star hit five field goals in a row for 11 points less than six minutes into the game, but the Sun began to slow the onslaught after Morrow and Beers checked in. After trailing by as many as 13 points, Connecticut finished the quarter on a 7-2 run to end the first down just eight.

The Sun fought all the way back to within two points of the Aces early in the second quarter, thriving on small, youth-heavy lineups. Leger-Walker dished an assist and followed it up with four points to help launch the run, and Morrow added four points and an assist of her own to push Connecticut to cut the Vegas lead to a single possession.

But Wilson and Carter refused to the let Connecticut continue chipping away, as the pair combined for 32 of the Aces’ 54 points in the first half.

Despite a 10-point deficit at the half, the Sun had momentum going into the locker room. Even at a massive size disadvantage, they outrebounded Vegas 16-13 in the half and had given up just three turnovers, a massive improvement from their performance in the first meeting. The team didn’t allow the Aces any second-chance points in the half and gave up just two on fastbreaks.

The second half was a game of nonstop runs, but the Sun could never quite get over the hump to take a lead. They closed Vegas’s lead to two points amid a hot third-quarter start, putting up six unanswered points, but the Aces fired back ripping off a 7-0 run to open it back up to double digits. Rivers then powered Connecticut back within two points with a minute left in the third, snagging her first steal of the season and taking it for a layup, then drilling the back-to-back 3-pointers.

Wilson’s response proved why she is a four-time MVP. She connected on her first 3-point attempt of the game and added an and-1 seconds later for six unanswered points to put the Sun back down eight at the end of the quarter.

Connecticut’s energy never wavered, and it continued to make dents in the Aces’ lead through the fourth. Beers drew a clutch and-1 to cut a Vegas run, and Van Lith went nuclear in the final frame dropping 13 of her 17 points including 10 in the final two minutes. Connecticut simply couldn’t string together enough defensive stops to make the game winnable.