A’ja Wilson scores 27, Las Vegas Aces deal short-handed Toronto Tempo 88-78 defeat

A'ja Wilson scored 27 points, along with seven rebounds and seven assists, leading the Las Vegas Aces to a 88-78 victory over the Toronto Tempo in Vancouver on Sunday. Wilson, who was listed as questionable before the game, was a dominant force, scoring nine points in the first quarter alone. The Aces secured their playoff spot but remain five games behind league-leading Minnesota Lynx.

Canadian Kia Nurse contributed 21 points for the Tempo (26-13), while rookie Kiki Rice added 14 points. However, Nurse's efforts were not enough to overcome the Aces' strong performance. The Tempo struggled to make shots, going 29 for 66 from the field across the night and showing signs of fatigue in the fourth quarter, getting outscored 12-4 over the first four minutes of that quarter.

Injuries took their toll on the Tempo, with point guard Julie Allemand (head) going to the locker room with less than two minutes left in the first half and not returning. The Tempo bench was reduced to eight players earlier in the day when head coach Sandy Brondello announced that guard Brittney Sykes (left foot) and forward Aneesah Morrow (left knee) had season-ending injuries against Portland.

The game concluded Toronto's Cross Canada series, which also featured a 82-79 win over the Portland Fire in Vancouver on Friday and two games at Montreal's Bell Centre in July. A crowd of 15,877 attended the game at Rogers Arena, with a total of 28,291 fans watching the two Vancouver games.