2018 Las Vegas Aces season

Last updated

2018 Las Vegas Aces season
Coach Bill Laimbeer
Arena Mandalay Bay Events Center
Attendance5,208 per game
Results
Record14–20 (.412)
Place6th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Team Leaders
Points A'ja Wilson – 20.7 ppg
Rebounds A'ja Wilson – 8.0 rpg
Assists Kelsey Plum – 4.0 apg
Media
Television AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, [1] ESPN2, NBATV

The 2018 Las Vegas Aces season was the franchise's 22nd season in the Women's National Basketball Association. This was the franchise's inaugural season in Las Vegas - after relocating from San Antonio and Utah. [2] The season tipped off on May 20, 2018 and was also the first season under head coach Bill Laimbeer. [3]

Contents

The team started the season slowly in May, posting an 0–4 record. June was a month of improvement, as the Aces went 6–7, including a win over Seattle away. July was the team's best month of the year. The Aces posted a 6–2 record, with their only 2 losses being to Los Angeles. The team's playoff push fell short in August, when the team posted a 2–7 record including the league's first forfeited game. Ultimately the forfeit proved costly, as the team missed out on the playoffs by 1 game and finished 9th in the league overall.

Transactions

WNBA draft

RoundPickPlayerNationalitySchool/Team/Country
11 A'ja Wilson Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States South Carolina
213 Jaime Nared Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Tennessee
325 Raigyne Louis Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States LSU
332 Jill Barta Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Gonzaga

Trades/Roster Changes

DateDetails
February 1, 2018Signed F Tamera Young [4]
February 1, 2018Signed C Carolyn Swords [5]
February 1, 2018Received Indiana Fever's 2nd round pick in 2019 WNBA draft in exchange for C Kayla Alexander and Las Vegas Aces' 3rd round pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft. [6]
February 2, 2018Received C Kelsey Bone from Phoenix Mercury in exchange for the 26th pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft and Las Vegas Aces' 2nd round pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft. [7]
February 26, 2018Re-signed G/F Sequoia Holmes, F Cierra Burdick, Signed F Ivey Slaughter [8]
March 13, 2018Re-signed G Sydney Colson [9]
March 20, 2018Re-signed F Valeriane Ayayi [10]
April 11, 2018Signed G Jacki Gemelos [11]
May 19, 2018Signed G Lindsay Allen [12]
May 23, 2018Signed G Kelsey Plum and G Kayla McBride [13]

Roster

2018 Las Vegas Aces roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHeightWeightDOBFromYrs
G 15 Flag of the United States.svg Allen, Lindsay 5' 8" (1.73m)144 lb (65kg)1995-03-20 Notre Dame 1
C 3 Flag of the United States.svg Bone, Kelsey 6' 4" (1.93m)220 lb (100kg)1991-12-31 Texas A&M 4
F 12 Flag of the United States.svg Coffey, Nia 6' 1" (1.85m)180 lb (82kg)1995-05-21 Northwestern 1
F 5 Flag of the United States.svg Hamby, Dearica 6' 3" (1.91m)189 lb (86kg)1993-11-06 Wake Forest 3
C 20 Flag of the United States.svg Harrison, Isabelle 6' 3" (1.91m)183 lb (83kg)1993-09-27 Tennessee 2
G 4 Flag of the United States.svg Jefferson, Moriah 5' 6" (1.68m)123 lb (56kg)1994-03-08 Connecticut 2
G 21 Flag of the United States.svg McBride, Kayla 5' 10" (1.78m)174 lb (79kg)1992-06-25 Notre Dame 4
G/F 31 Flag of the United States.svg Nared, Jaime 6' 2" (1.88m)160 lb (73kg)1995-09-14 Tennessee R
C 19 Flag of South Korea.svg Park Ji-su 6' 5" (1.96m)206 lb (93kg)1998-12-06 South Korea R
G 10 Flag of the United States.svg Plum, Kelsey 5' 8" (1.73m)145 lb (66kg)1994-08-24 Washington 1
C 8 Flag of the United States.svg Swords, Carolyn 6' 6" (1.98m)215 lb (98kg)1989-07-18 Boston College 6
C 22 Flag of the United States.svg Wilson, A'ja 6' 4" (1.93m)195 lb (88kg)1996-08-08 South Carolina R
F 1 Flag of the United States.svg Young, Tamera 6' 2" (1.88m)175 lb (79kg)1986-10-30 James Madison 10
Head coach
Flag of the United States.svg Bill Laimbeer (Notre Dame)
Assistant coaches
Flag of the United States.svg Vickie Johnson (Louisiana Tech)
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Kelly Raimon
Strength and conditioning coach
Flag of the United States.svg Laura Ramus (Wayne State (MI))
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Cruz Roja.svg Injured

Game log

Pre-season

2018 pre-season game log
May: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
1May 6 China W 98–63 Wilson (20)Tied (7)Tied (5) Mandalay Bay Events Center
1–0
2May 13@ Dallas L 55–68 Young (11) Wilson (12) Slaughter (3) College Park Center
1–1
2018 pre-season schedule

Regular season

2018 game log
Total: 14–20 (Home: 8–9; Road: 6–11)
May: 0–4 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
1May 20@ Connecticut L 65–101 Young (23) Wilson (10) Bone (3) Mohegan Sun Arena
6,637		0–1
2May 22@ Washington L 70–75 Wilson (16) Wilson (8) Allen (6) Capital One Arena
4,509		0–2
3May 27 Seattle L 98–105 Wilson (27) Wilson (8) Allen (6) Mandalay Bay Events Center
7,662		0–3
4May 31@ Seattle L 74–101 Wilson (21)Tied (6) Plum (6) KeyArena
5,235		0–4
June : 6–7 (Home: 3–4; Road: 3–3)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
5June 1 Washington W 85–73 Wilson (26) Wilson (12)Tied (4) Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,575		1–4
6June 3@ Chicago L 90–95 Wilson (22) Park (6) Allen (8) Wintrust Arena
5,052		1–5
7June 8 Atlanta L 83–87 Wilson (20) Wilson (9) Allen (7) Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,913		1–6
8June 10@ Phoenix L 66–72 Wilson (17) Park (11) Plum (6) Talking Stick Resort Arena
8,471		1–7
9June 12@ Indiana W 101–92 (OT) Wilson (35) Wilson (13) Young (9) Bankers Life Fieldhouse
5,437		2–7
10June 13@ New York W 78–63 Hamby (17)Tied (4) Allen (7) Westchester County Center
1,419		3–7
11June 15@ Dallas L 67–77 McBride (22) Young (9) Young (4) College Park Center
4,549		3–8
12June 17 Phoenix L 80–92 Wilson (21) Coffey (12) Plum (5) Mandalay Bay Events Center
4,432		3–9
13June 19@ Seattle W 87–77 Wilson (25) Wilson (15)Tied (6) KeyArena
6,395		4–9
14June 22 New York W 88–78 McBride (27) Wilson (14) Wilson (4) Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,478		5–9
15June 24 Minnesota L 73–88 McBride (18) Wilson (7) Plum (5) Mandalay Bay Events Center
4,814		5–10
16June 27 Dallas L 91–97 McBride (38) Wilson (15) Wilson (8) Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,246		5–11
17June 29 Los Angeles W 94–78 Wilson (29)Tied (9)Tied (5) Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,124		6–11
July : 6–2 (Home: 3–1; Road: 3–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
18July 1@ Los Angeles L 71–87 Young (16) Park (6) Young (8) Staples Center
12,003		6–12
19July 5 Chicago W 84–80 McBride (28) Swords (12) McBride (7) Mandalay Bay Events Center
4,699		7–12
20July 7 Connecticut W 94–90 Wilson (34) Wilson (14) Plum (10) Mandalay Bay Events Center
3,363		8–12
21July 10@ Chicago W 98–74 McBride (18)Tied (8)3 Tied (4) Wintrust Arena
7,696		9–12
22July 13@ Minnesota W 85–77 McBride (24) Wilson (15) McBride (9) Target Center
9,813		10–12
23July 15 Los Angeles L 78–99 McBride (18)Tied (8) Jefferson (3) Mandalay Bay Events Center
4,810		10–13
24July 19@ Phoenix W 85–82 McBride (27) Wilson (12) McBride (3) Talking Stick Resort Arena
8,587		11–13
25July 22 Indiana W 88–74 Wilson (24)Tied (10)3 Tied (4) Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,368		12–13
August : 2–7 (Home: 2–3; Road: 0–4)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation
Attendance		Record
26August 1 Phoenix L 93–104 Wilson (29)3 Tied (6)Tied (5) Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,129		12–14
27August 3@ Washington L via forfeit [14] ––– Capital One Arena
0		12–15
28August 5@ Connecticut L 88–109 Wilson (24)5 Tied (3)Tied (4) Mohegan Sun Arena
6,791		12–16
29August 7@ Atlanta L 100–109 Plum (20) Swords (9) Plum (13) McCamish Pavilion
4,033		12–17
30August 9 Minnesota L 73–89 Wilson (18) Swords (7) Young (4) Mandalay Bay Events Center
4,497		12–18
31August 11 Indiana W 92–74 Plum (20) Wilson (8)Tied (4) Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,213		13–18
32August 15 New York W 85–72 Wilson (19) Young (8) Young (4) Mandalay Bay Events Center
7,159		14–18
33August 17@ Dallas L 102–107 Wilson (34) Wilson (7) McBride (12) College Park Center
6,209		14–19
34August 19 Atlanta L 78–93 Wilson (21) Hamby (8) Plum (8) Mandalay Bay Events Center
5,737		14–20
2018 season schedule

Standings

# Western Conference
W L PCT GB Home Road Conf.
1 Seattle Storm (1)268.765–13–413–411–5
2 Phoenix Mercury (5)2014.58869–811–68–8
3 Los Angeles Sparks (6)1915.559711–68–99–7
4 Minnesota Lynx (7)1816.52989–89–89–7
5 Dallas Wings (8)1519.4411110–75–127–9
6e –Las Vegas Aces 1420.412128–96–114–12

Notes

(#) – Conference Standing, Playoff Seeds shown to the right of team name
x – Qualified for playoffs
e – Eliminated from playoffs

Statistics

Legend
  GPGames played  GS Games started MPG Minutes per game RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game SPG  Steals per game BPG  Blocks per game PPG Points per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage 3P%  3-point field-goal percentage FT%  Free-throw percentage TO  Turnovers per game
 PF  Fouls per gameTeam leaderLeague leader

Regular season

PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
A'ja Wilson 333330.646.20.077.48.02.20.81.720.7
Kayla McBride 313132.344.939.391.73.93.51.10.118.2
Tamera Young 332526.740.830.870.75.12.81.00.29.9
Kelsey Plum 312725.546.743.987.52.44.00.80.29.5
Dearica Hamby 33014.452.628.974.23.61.20.70.37.4
Moriah Jefferson 16015.737.920.081.01.32.10.60.05.4
Nia Coffey 281013.838.040.061.82.40.60.30.25.3
Carolyn Swords 261214.555.70.087.54.70.90.20.73.9
Lindsay Allen 24614.938.46.370.81.32.90.60.03.1
Kelsey Bone 321010.850.00.050.02.21.20.10.12.8
Ji-Su Park 321113.038.80.061.93.30.90.30.62.8
Jaime Nared 3109.130.022.685.71.50.50.40.12.5

Awards and honors

RecipientAwardDate awardedRef.
A'ja Wilson WNBA Rookie of the Month - JuneJuly 2, 2018 [15]
WNBA Western Conference Player of the WeekJuly 9, 2018 [16]
Kayla McBride WNBA All-Star SelectionJuly 17, 2018 [17]
A'ja Wilson
A'ja Wilson WNBA Rookie of the Month - JulyAugust 1, 2018 [18]
WNBA Rookie of the Month - AugustAugust 20, 2018 [19]
WNBA Rookie of the Year Award September 9, 2018 [20]

References

  1. ↑ "Las Vegas Announces Telecast Agreement With AT&T SportsNet". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. June 1, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  2. ↑ "San Antonio Stars moving to Las Vegas, bought by MGM Resorts". usatoday.com. Associated Press. October 17, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  3. ↑ "2018 Las Vegas Aces Schedule". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Las Vegas Signs 10-Year Veteran Forward Tamera Young". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Las Vegas Signs Five-Year Veteran Carolyn Swords". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Las Vegas Acquires 2019 Second Round Pick From Indiana". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Las Vegas Acquires All-Star Kelsey Bone From Phoenix Mercury". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 2, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Las Vegas Re-Signs Holmes, Burdick, Signs Free Agent Ivey Slaughter". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. February 26, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Las Vegas Re-Signs Guard Sydney Colson". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. March 13, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Las Vegas Re-Signs Forward Valeriane Ayayi". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. March 20, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Las Vegas Signs Free Agent Guard Jacki Gemelos". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. April 11, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Las Vegas Signs Lindsay Allen". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. May 19, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Aces Welcome McBride, Plum To Las Vegas, Waive Schimmel, Louis". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. May 23, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Las Vegas Aces Forfeit Game vs. Washington Mystics". wnba.com. WNBA. August 7, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Las Vegas' A'ja Wilson Named Rookie of the Month". wnba.com. WNBA. July 2, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Elena Delle Donne, A'ja Wilson Named Players of the Week". wnba.com. WNBA. July 9, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  17. ↑ "2018 WNBA All-Stars Announced; Elena Delle Donne, Candace Parker To Serve As Player-Captains". wnba.com. WNBA. July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Las Vegas' Wilson Named WNBA Rookie Of The Month". wnba.com. WNBA. August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Las Vegas' A'ja Wilson Named August WNBA Rookie Of The Month". wnba.com. WNBA. August 20, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Aces' A'ja Wilson Unanimously Selected 2018 WNBA Rookie Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 9, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
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