Subscribe
Follow Us
The Las Vegas Aces concluded their preseason with an exhilarating 85-84 victory over the Phoenix Mercury, thanks to a clutch shot by rookie Deja Kelly. Aces star and MVP A'ja Wilson celebrated the release of her Nike “Pink A'ura” A'One shoe, delivering 16 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
The first and final preseason home game for the back-to-back champions had its highs and lows. The strong start slowed in the second quarter with multiple missed shots and turnovers. But, as always, Las Vegas had an ace in the hole.
“It's a positive that I can still pull out a bunch of Olympians and still win a game with my bench,“ Aces coach Becky Hammon joked post-game.
DEJA KELLY WINS IT FOR THE @LVAces AFTER SCORING 4 CONSECUTIVE BUCKETS AT THE END OF REGULATION! pic.twitter.com/DlMkufZgvl
— WNBA (@WNBA) May 7, 2025
The matchup slowdown for the star-studded starting lineup gave the new roster of rookies a chance to show their grit, and they did. Kelly went on a run in the fourth quarter, putting up back-to-back jump shots to lead to the Aces win. After going undrafted, the guard joined the Aces this season on a training camp contract.
“It was a very physical game, and she was the one who had it cooking, so I just let her go,“ Hammon said during the post-game conference.
“The ball was in my hands,“ Kelly said after the game.
“Just trying to make something happen, and that's what I've kind of done all of my career, and just try to make things happen, and luckily, I was able to do it for our team tonight.“
Rooks Cook
While preseason is a time to shake out the dust and point out the issues, it's also the last chance for the rookies to claim their spot on the court or the bench. Notre Dame alumnus Jewell Lloyd scored 11 points in 19 minutes of play, sinking three of her five 3-point attempts. Lloyd is a hopeful replacement for the recently traded Kelsey Plum.
“She does a lot of little in-game adjustments that I just love because I don't have to complain. She just does them,“ Hammon said of Lloyd's game-play on Tuesday night, comparing her game mentality to that of veteran guard Chelsea Gray.
“They can see somebody guarding something one way, run it again, and expose it.“
It is one of the abilities Hammon says she's looking for in her players this season. Rookies Aaliyah Nye and Harmoni Turner, offering five and four buckets, respectively, also displayed the hustle that Hammon acknowledged revitalized the energy in the second half that appeared to slow down in the first half of the game.
“They played solid, they played together,“ coach Hammon said during the post-game conference on Tuesday.
“They got stops, they were all caught up into that league, hit some shots, and crawled back into the game.“
Virginia Tech legend Elizabeth Kitley's memorable block in the fourth quarter was a show-stopper from the rook that had her fellow players and vets jumping off the bench. In addition, an aggressive play and nine points from forward Crystal Bradford proved that coach Hammon had a lot to think about and some hard decisions.
“There's only so many spots, and it just becomes a numbers game.“
From Undrafted to Unforgettable
Deja Kelly appeared to be on a mission to prove she was not the one to count out. The fresh training camp signee hit back-to-back threes with 24 seconds left in the game, sinking the final three of the night to secure the preseason home opener win for the back-to-back champs.
“I'm so glad that my little rookie got the win for us,“ a glowing Wilson said during the post-game conference.
The 5-foot-8-inch guard is vying for one of the team's 12 roster spots in hopes of helping the 2x champions come back from the depths of last season's defeat to reclaim the WNBA championship. While her competition is fierce, so is Kelly's experience.
Article Continues Below
With five years of collegiate experience, the 3x first-team All-ACC guard's game is polished and dynamic. Kelly was not selected in the 2025 WNBA draft after averaging 12.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists as a graduate student at Oregon this season. Tuesday night, Kelly secured 15 points in 13 minutes of game time, her game-playing proving that the magic is all in the numbers.
“Deja's been very good, all in the collective picture,“ coach Hammon said after the game on Tuesday.
“She's been super solid, like she does defensively. She has a natural physicality to her.“
‘The defense has to set the tone'
Natural physicality is what the Aces may need to finally level out their weak spot: defense. The Aces are coming off a hot 112-78 preseason win in Dallas against the Wings.
Tuesday night's home preseason game against the Mercury was the first season in 20 years that Phoenix did not have Diana Taurasi on their roster, as she retired this past offseason. Though the 2x WNBA champions were able to pull out the close win, the defense appears to continue to plague the refreshed roster.
“We still have things we have to iron out,“ Coach Hammon said about the team's defense on Tuesday night.
“I thought our team communication and our physicality was not there tonight. Maybe that was some juice. I'm not sure. We looked a little tired.“
“We had our good days, and we had our bad days. Today, the starting five was on a bad day,“ Wilson acknowledged during the post-game conference.
The turnover pile-up in the second quarter of the game let out the steam that the Aces were building at tip-off. Coach Hammon was visibly unhappy, but both the coach and players say this is what preseason is about.
“This is why we have to really dial into preseason; it's going to expose some things that we need to work on,“ Wilson said Tuesday night after the game.
“I would grade us at a C plus. Okay, a D plus, jacket weather, which is not the best, but we're gonna get better.“
With two preseason wins under their belts, the Las Vegas Aces have room for improvement, but that room could get crowded very quickly. The Aces will open the 2025 regular season on the road in New York on Saturday, May 17.
“We're going into playing the defending champs, and I expect a dogfight,” Coach Hammon said.
Tip-off is slated for 10 a.m. PST.
