Rookie and No. 1 overall pick A’ja Wilson had a team-high 20 points and seven rebounds in her preseason debut for the Aces on Sunday night.
Aces/WNBA
Rookie forward A’ja Wilson had 20 points and seven rebounds, and the Aces coasted to a 98-63 victory over the Chinese National Team at Mandalay Bay Events Center on Sunday night.
Nia Coffey is primed for a bigger role after struggling last year in San Antonio, where she averaged 1.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and shot 27.1 percent from the field.
Lawrence, a 5-foot-8-inch who starred at tiny Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, is competing for a roster spot with the Aces, who acquired her contractual rights from the Minnesota Lynx on draft day last month.
Aces forwards Cierra Burdick and Jaime Nared played the 2014-15 season together at Tennessee, and developed a close friendship they have since maintained.
Morgan William, who snapped Connecticut’s 111-game winning streak with a buzzer-beating shot in 2017, is working to earn a roster spot on the WNBA’s Aces.
Sequoia Holmes, who graduated from Mojave High and starred at UNLV from 2004 to 2008, is the founder, director and coach of Sequoia Select — a grassroots travel basketball program for girls in Las Vegas.
The Sun have been supportive of her television endeavors that began in 2015 after she was first injured playing in Italy. She missed the 2015 WNBA season because of a knee injury.
The Aces, who will practice at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion until they construct a practice facility, renovated the locker rooms and training rooms for the Lady Rebels.
The Aces began practicing Sunday at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion, and Bill Laimbeer, as the team’s head coach and president of basketball operations, opted to emphasize defense and conditioning during their first set of two-a-days.
Former UNLV guard Brooke Johnson, who averaged 16.1 points as a senior in 2017-18, will be with the Aces for training camp, which begins Sunday.
A’ja Wilson, selected No. 1 overall by the Aces at the WNBA Draft on April 12, ventured to Las Vegas this week to sign her first professional contract.
The Aces selected South Carolina forward A’ja Wilson with the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft on Thursday in New York. She became the franchise’s first pick since it relocated to Las Vegas from San Antonio in October.
The Las Vegas Aces unveiled their jerseys Thursday morning on Las Vegas TV station Fox 5, hours before the WNBA Draft in New York City.
South Carolina senior forward A’ja Wilson averaged 22.6 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks in 2017-18, sweeping all the major awards. She’s expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in Thursday’s WNBA Draft.