Las Vegas Aces vs Toronto Tempo - WNBA Game 40 - 2026

Wilson and Young Send Las Vegas Into the World Cup Break with a 93-73 Statement Over Toronto

The Las Vegas Aces closed the book on the first half of their schedule the right way, running past the Toronto Tempo 93-73 on Friday night at The House before the whole league scatters for the World Cup break. Las Vegas moved to 27-13 and knocked Toronto down to 11-27, and honestly it never felt in doubt after the opening three minutes. A’ja Wilson, the reigning MVP, did reigning-MVP things: game highs of 27 points and 8 rebounds, plus a second-quarter takeover that flipped a tight game into a runaway. Jackie Young was right there with her, pouring in 23 points and handing out a game-high 8 assists, and Chelsea Gray quietly stuffed the box score with 11 points, 4 assists and 4 steals. Isabelle Harrison paced Toronto with 15 as the Tempo pushed five players into double figures but never found a run big enough to matter. For the Aces, it was the kind of wire-to-wire win that sends a contender into a long layoff feeling good about itself, the margin comfortable and the milestones stacking up.

Game Summary: Las Vegas Aces vs Toronto Tempo

First Quarter

Toronto actually hung around early, trading baskets through a pair of ties before Jewell Loyd reminded everyone why she keeps climbing the record books. Her first three of the night, buried inside the opening six-plus minutes, moved her past Katie Douglas for sole possession of eighth on the league’s all-time list. Right around there, a Young triple at the 7:00 mark handed Las Vegas its first lead at 11-8, and the Aces never trailed again. The three ties and the lone lead change of the entire night came inside those opening three minutes, and once Las Vegas grabbed the wheel, it never handed it back.

From there the home team just kept pressing. Las Vegas pushed it to 16-10 with under four minutes to go, and after Toronto answered with the next four, the Aces ripped off an 8-0 spurt to make it 24-14. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus punctuated the quarter with a three in the closing seconds for a 27-17 cushion.

The shooting told the whole story. Las Vegas hit 50 percent overall (10-of-20) and 50 percent from deep (6-of-12), while Toronto managed 43.8 percent and three of eight from range. The Aces also turned 10 Tempo giveaways into 10 points while coughing it up just once. Young led all scorers with 12; Kiana Williams and Harrison had five apiece for the visitors.

Second Quarter

The Tempo made one more push to open the second, trimming the deficit to 31-22 inside the first 90 seconds, and that was about the last time it felt close. Wilson answered with four straight points to shove the lead back to 13, and it stayed in double digits the rest of the way.

Then the reigning MVP simply took over the quarter. Wilson scored 10 of the Aces’ final 14 points of the half, a stretch that ballooned the cushion to 17 by the break. She was surgical, going a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and 6-of-6 at the free-throw line, and she closed the period with 14 of her eventual 27. It was a clinic in picking a defense apart, the reigning MVP getting to her spots at will and refusing to settle for anything hard. No Toronto player cracked more than five points in the quarter.

The team splits stayed scorching for Las Vegas, which shot 50 percent again (8-of-16) even while going just 1-of-6 from three. Toronto, for its part, could not have been better from deep, drilling all four of its attempts and hitting 43.8 percent overall, and yet the Aces still strolled to the locker room ahead 56-39. Young and Gray kept the offense humming around Wilson’s interior work, and by the break the outcome already felt decided.

Third Quarter

The third quarter was Toronto’s best look at a run, and it still wasn’t nearly enough. The Tempo scored the opening bucket, but Las Vegas responded with the next six to stretch things to 62-41 barely three minutes in. Toronto called a timeout, regrouped, and answered with an 8-0 burst of its own to shave the lead down to 13.

That was the ceiling. The Aces went cold for a full three minutes during that stretch, unable to find the bottom of the net until Gray finally snapped the drought with an and-1 that steadied everything back down. Las Vegas would not let the margin dip into single digits the rest of the way. Even that cold stretch could not shrink the deficit to anything scary.

Offense was hard to come by for everyone in this one. Neither side topped 40 percent in the period, with Las Vegas hitting 6-of-15 (.400) and Toronto connecting on 35.3 percent (6-of-17). From distance, it was flat ugly on both ends, a combined 2-of-12 (.167) with each team making exactly one triple. Laura Juskaite paced Toronto with nine points in the quarter, while Jackie Young topped the home side with six of her own. Las Vegas carried a 74-55 lead into the final 10 minutes, comfortable but not yet finished.

Fourth Quarter

By the fourth, this one was academic. Las Vegas never let the lead slip below 18, and both teams shot it like they already had a plane to catch for the World Cup break. Toronto managed 38.9 percent (7-of-18) in the quarter, and the Aces were even chillier at 33.3 percent (8-of-24), well past the point of mattering.

The threes would not fall for anyone, a combined 4-of-19 (.211) from deep with each side hitting two. Still, Las Vegas had more than enough cushion to empty some minutes and let the bench get a real look. Dana Evans, back in the rotation after sitting the previous six games, chipped in four points off the bench in her return, a welcome sight heading into the layoff. Las Vegas also finished with 10 steals and forced 16 Toronto turnovers, the sort of ball pressure that keeps a lead right where you want it.

Kia Nurse led Toronto’s fourth-quarter effort with six, while A’ja Wilson added five more to cap her 27-point night. The Aces closed it out 93-73, a tidy 20-point win to carry into the break. It was the sort of wire-to-wire performance that sends a team off feeling good about itself, and Las Vegas earned every inch of the margin against a Toronto side that could not string enough stops together.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is that Las Vegas leaves the first half of the season in a very good place, and the individual milestones piled up along the way. Wilson’s 27 points pushed her to 962 on the year, third on the WNBA‘s all-time single-season scoring list, where she passed both her own 2025 total (937) and Loyd’s 939 from 2023. She is now 38 points shy of a second 1,000-point season, and she stretched her league-leading double-figure streak to 61 straight games. It was also her 30th 20-point game of the year, lifting her career count to 192, second only to Diana Taurasi and her 259.

Young kept pace with her 21st 20-point outing of the season and 78th of her career, and she slid past Kelsey Plum into 26th on the all-time assists list with 1,287. Gray added her own line item, moving past Becky Hammon to 26th all-time in steals with 489.

The margins were just as decisive. Las Vegas was nearly automatic at the line (19-of-21, .905) against Toronto’s 9-of-13, buried 18 points off turnovers to the Tempo’s two, and gave up only two points off its own seven giveaways, a season low. The Aces grabbed 10 offensive boards, notched 10 steals, and controlled the paint 36-28. Loyd added a piece of history too, drilling the 729th three of her career to move into sole possession of eighth all-time. That is a complete night, and a fine way to head into a well-earned break.

TOP PERFORMERS

TEAM STATS

Points in the Paint: LVA 36, TOR 28 | Second Chance: LVA 11, TOR 5 | Fast Break: LVA 2, TOR 2 | Off Turnovers: LVA 18, TOR 2 | Bench: LVA 25, TOR 22

Next up: The Aces, along with the rest of the league, head into a much needed break for the World Cup, taking place Sept. 4 to 13 in Berlin, Germany. Five Aces players will represent their countries: Gray, Wilson and Young for the United States, Steph Talbot for Australia and Mai Yamamoto for Japan. Las Vegas resumes play on Thursday, Sept. 17, at Seattle.

Franchise Sports Media. Las Vegas sports news about Las Vegas Sports teams.

— TQ (@tqthetrojan) for Franchise Sports Media

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