Las Vegas Aces tie WNBA record with 18 3-pointers

The Las Vegas Aces tied a WNBA single-game record with 18 made 3-pointers in Monday's 104-76 win over the Los Angeles Sparks in Vegas.

The Aces shot 47.4% from 3 overall, hitting 7 for 8 from deep to jump out to a 39-19 first-quarter lead from which L.A. never recovered. Vegas went on to make 11 of their first 12 3s of the game before cooling off slightly in the latter 25 minutes.

«We shot the ball well. They caught us on a night,» first-year head coach Becky Hammon said. «If we can bottle that, that would be great.»

The Mystics and Storm previously hit 18 3s in a game on Aug. 18, 2019 and Aug. 12, 2020, respectively.

With the victory, the Aces improved to a league-best 7-1 while the Sparks lost their fifth straight game, dropping to 2-5.

Seven Vegas players connected from deep, including 2020 MVP A'ja Wilson, whose pair of 3s got Vegas on the board to start the game. Guards Kelsey Plum (5 for 8) and Chelsea Gray (4 for 6) in particular really got going from the arc, with Plum matching the entire Sparks team's total from 3-point range (5 for 23).

«Basketball is a game of confidence,» Hammon said. «You see one or two go in the basket, people get rolling… it becomes real fun as an offensive player, especially when you know your teammates are going to find you when you're open.»

Under former coach Bill Laimbeer, Aces teams were the least-frequent 3-point shooting team each year since the franchise moved to Vegas from San Antonio in 2018, in 2021 attempting just 13.5 treys per game. This year, under Hammon's pace and space style of play, the Aces are tied with the Phoenix Mercury for the second-most 3-point attempts per game at 25.8.

They've had two games where they've made at least 14 3s, while the rest of the league have