Aces’ bench shines in regular-season finale as stars prep for playoffs

No “Core Four,” no problem.

The Aces didn’t need to play their stars in their regular-season finale against the Dallas Wings on Thursday. The reserves did just fine in their place.

Center Megan Gustafson scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Aces to a 98-84 win at Michelob Ultra Arena. She was one of five players on the team with at least 10 points.

“I just have to credit my teammates. They were finding me in position to be able to get in the paint,” Gustafson said. “I just wanted to go in and show that we have a really good bench and we can play together.”

Tiffany Hayes, a leading candidate for Sixth Player of the Year, scored a season-high 21 points in the starting lineup.

The Aces (27-13) found out prior to the game they earned the No. 4 seed in the WNBA playoffs thanks to the Connecticut Sun’s 87-54 win over the Chicago Sky earlier in the day.

They will face the No. 5 Seattle Storm in a best-of-three series in the first round, with Game 1 taking place at 7 p.m. Sunday at Michelob Ultra Arena.

The Aces opted to rest A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum against Dallas with their playoff matchup locked in. They still shot 46.7 percent from the floor and 15 of 37 from 3-point range (40.5 percent) in Thursday’s win.

“Whenever anyone was called, they were ready to go,” Gustafson said. “That’s just a credit to our strength coach, our trainers, everyone involved with getting us ready.”

The Wings also didn’t have some key players available.

Dallas (9-31) sat leading scorer Arike Ogunbowale (illness) and had to play without center Teaira McCowan (suspension).

The win should give the Aces faith heading into the playoffs that their bench can produce when called upon. Sydney Colson scored 13 points, while Kierstan Bell added 12 and Alysha Clark had 10.

“They should have a lot of confidence not only in themselves, but in the person next to them,” coach Becky Hammon said.

Satou Sabally scored a game-high 25 points to cap off a disappointing season for the Wings, who were swept by the Aces in last season’s semifinals.

Meanwhile, the back-to-back WNBA champions are playing some of their best basketball at the right time. The Aces won nine of their last 10 games in the regular season. Seven of those wins were by 11 or more points.

“I can tell you since the last time we played Dallas (a 93-90 loss on Aug. 27), it’s been a different vibe, (a) different level of focus,” Hammon said. “I really like the direction that we’re headed in this point of the season.”

Here are three takeaways from the game:

1. All hail the Queen

Center Queen Egbo had her best game with the Aces on Thursday.

The 10th overall pick in the 2022 draft had eight points and five rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench. Egbo inked two seven-day contracts with the Aces before being signed for the rest of the season Monday.

Hammon said Egbo has only learned about a quarter of the team’s sets since arriving but has still been a key fixture off the bench.

2. First-half explosion

The Aces gave up a 10-2 run at the end of the first quarter that caused their eight-point lead to evaporate.

The offense then put things away in the second quarter. The Aces outscored Dallas 30-15 in the second quarter and led 60-45 at halftime. Their 60 first-half points were a season high.

3. Support for their M’VP

Wilson’s teammates still showed her love Thursday even though the likely three-time WNBA MVP didn’t play.

The Aces wore shirts that read “At the end of the day … M’VP” during warmups to commemorate Wilson’s historic campaign. She became the first player in WNBA history to score 1,000 points in a season and led the league in scoring at 26.9 points per game.

Wilson also finished second in rebounds per game (11.9) and first in blocks per game (2.6).

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.