Undrafted rookie closes show on Aces star’s big night
A’ja Wilson, Deja Kelly and Becky Hammon couldn’t help but laugh once they entered the press room after the Aces’ 85-84 preseason win over the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday night at Michelob Ultra Arena.
On “A’One Night,” a themed event celebrating the release of the three-time WNBA MVP’s Nike signature shoe, the home team was led by an undrafted rookie guard.
The 5-foot-8-inch Kelly joined the Aces as the team’s final training camp invite. With a team-high 15 points against the Mercury, including the game-winning bucket, she secured a victory for the team that took a chance on her.
“I think it’s just a sense of gratitude for this opportunity, to be able to play in this arena on (Wilson’s) special night, in front of all these fans, wearing this jersey,” Kelly said as she sat between Hammon and Wilson. “Overall, it’s just taking advantage, seizing the moment and really just embracing an opportunity.”
Wilson added 14 points and six rebounds in an arena drenched in pink to honor the debut color of her shoes. She played a game-high 22 minutes for a crowd that included her family; her former South Carolina coach, Dawn Staley; and her NBA boyfriend, Bam Adebayo.
“It’s considered my night, because my name is on it, but it’s really not. I have to give all my glory to God,” Wilson said. “I’m so appreciative of just my teammates, my coaches, the fans. It just kind of felt like a family reunion, and that’s what it’s all about.
“Like, yeah, the shoe is going to be the shoe, and I’m so grateful for it, and I hope everyone goes and gets every single pair. But it’s so much deeper and more than that to me. … I’m full of joy. My heart is full of joy, and I’m so glad that my little rookie got the win for us tonight, because that’s what it’s really all about.”
Kelly’s scoring run began when she scored seven points in five third-quarter minutes as one of the last players off the bench. The burst included a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to pull the Aces within 66-65 entering the fourth quarter.
She then made four straight shots to end the game, including the final basket, in which she dribbled from the sideline to the top of the key to shake her defender and pulled up from the free-throw line to put the Aces ahead with four seconds remaining.
A former standout at North Carolina and Oregon, Kelly offered a reminder that the late domination was nothing out of the norm for her.
“That’s kind of what I’ve done my whole career, just trying to make things happen,” she said. “And luckily, I was able to do it for our team tonight.”
Bench to the rescue
Hammon moved to a rotation of only bench players by the third quarter after her starters were outscored 27-24 in the second quarter to enter halftime down 47-46.
Starting guards Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young both scored 10 points, while Jewell Loyd added 11. Center Kiah Stokes added three points and a block as part of the opening lineup.
Wilson and Hammon cited the defensive effort from the starting five as the problem.
“We have our good days and we had our bad days, and today the starting five was on a bad day,” Wilson said. “So I would grade (our defense) at a C-plus.”
Hammon disagreed and docked the starters down a whole letter grade, but she and Wilson both said the team isn’t discouraged by the performance and would rather struggle now than “peak too early.”
When asked if there’s anything constructive to take away from the starters’ showing, Hammon said, “I mean, it’s positive that I can pull out a bunch of Olympians and still win a game with my bench.”
Draft picks in action
In addition to Kelly’s heroics, rookie third-round draft pick Harmoni Turner scored her first WNBA points in the final quarter, then followed up with another bucket a few minutes later to tie the game at 74. She finished with four points.
Second-round pick Aaliyah Nye, who scored 17 points in the Aces’ preseason win over the Dallas Wings, then overcame an 0-for-4 shooting start to hit a 3-pointer to put Aces up 77-74 with less than three minutes to play.
With the rookies performing at such a high level and a maximum of 12 roster spots, Hammon admitted that it won’t be easy to make cuts by the WNBA’s May 15 deadline.
“It’s their job to make my life difficult, and they’re making me make tough choices. That’s for sure,” Hammon said of the newcomers. “But everybody that we’ve brought in has played solid basketball. So this is absolutely my least favorite part of the job. I don’t like it, and it’s really hard.
“There’s only so many spots, and it just becomes a numbers game. I’d like to keep all of them. It’s just not doable, and until (the WNBA) adds roster spots, it is what it is.”
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.