THE Las Vegas Aces’ title defense will continue at least one more playoff round, as A’ja Wilson and company outlasted the Indiana Fever, 94-83, on Thursday in a winner-take-all Game 3 to advance to an eighth straight WNBA semifinals.
Wilson led all scorers with 36 points on 11-of-18 shooting overall, making two of 3 from 3-point range in addition to grabbing 10 rebounds and tallying two blocks. The performance marked Wilson’s 12th 30-point game in the postseason, setting a WNBA record.
The third-seeded Aces advance to take on the winner of the Friday Game 3 between the second-seeded Golden State Valkyries and seventh-seeded Dallas Wings. Game 1 of the semifinals is scheduled for Sunday.
Las Vegas’ Chelsea Gray delivered 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting, hitting multiple key buckets down the stretch. Jackie Young added 18 points, eight rebounds and a game-high seven assists.
Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 23 points but did so inefficiently, making seven of 23 attempts from the field and three of 11 from 3-point range. Aliyah Boston added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Caitlin Clark scored 18 points, shooting six of 18 from the floor and tree of 12 from long distance. She logged four assists and four blocked shots but committed six turnovers.
A Sophie Cunningham 3-pointer cut the Aces’ lead, once as high as 12 points, to 70-68 with 8:50 remaining. Las Vegas then went on a 10-2 run anchored by its star trio to inflate the advantage back to 10 points.
The Fever cut a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to two with three minutes remaining on a 3-pointer from Mitchell, but the Aces closed the game on a 12-3 run.
Clark scored 11 points in the first quarter but just seven more the rest of the way. She briefly went to the locker room in the fourth quarter after an elbow from Jewell Loyd appeared to knock her tooth out, but she returned to the court before missing any game action. — Reuters