By Alan Snel
LVSportsBiz.com
No matter when the Las Vegas Aces tip off their WNBA games at Mandalay Bay Events Center, there’s Raiders owner Mark Davis sitting in his courtside seat near half court.
There he was again Tuesday for the home schedule’s lone 12 noon camp day game as a smallish crowd watched the Aces defeat the Chicago Sky, 90-82.
The crowd included Davis, who watched the Aces make 68 percent of their shots in the first half as the Las Vegas squad led, 55-54, after two quarters. Aces guard Kelsey Plum had a nice bounceback game with 14 points, while Kayla McBride (16 points), A’ja Wilson (16), Dearica Hamby (14) and Liz Cambage (16 points) all scored in double figures for the Aces.
On camp day, attendance took a hit with an announced number of 3,516, though that seemed generous when you scanned the arena that can hold upwards to 10,000. There were lots of camp-age kids in the seats, along with older fans sprinkled around the rows in the arena.
Coach Bill Laimbeer was not a big fan of the camp day 12 noon start, but went along with it.
Because of the early start, the players dressed in pajamas in their locker room after the game.
Several players like Sugar Rodgers, McBride and Wilson said they typically practice at that hour, so their bodies were ready for basketball. Here are Wilson and McBride after the game.
“It was a struggle in the beginning,” Wilson. “When the ball goes up, we have to zone in.”
McBride said she liked the 12 noon start. “It’s different, having an early start. I think most of us like. You have to show up and play no matter what time the game is.”
The Aces improve to 8-5 during the 34-game schedule and now have the third best record in the 12-team WNBA. They also are doing well in the voting for players for the WNBA All-Star Game, which is scheduled for Nov. 27 at Mandalay Bay Events Center.
LVSportsBiz.com writer Cassandra Cousineau put together this update Tuesday.