The Las Vegas Aces are moving on. Four-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson scored 36 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the defending champions to a 94-83 victory over the Indiana Fever in Game 3 of their first-round series on Thursday, Oct. 1, at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
The third-seeded Aces took the best-of-three matchup 2-1 and advanced to the semifinals, where they will meet the winner of the Golden State-Dallas series, to be decided Friday in San Francisco. It is the second year in a row that Las Vegas has ended Indiana's season; the Fever entered as the No. 6 seed.
Wilson bookended the series with dominant displays, opening with 38 points and 16 rebounds in a 102-85 Game 1 win before delivering again when it mattered most. She scored 21 of her points in the first half and finished 11-of-18 from the field, refusing to let the controversy from Game 2 define the series. In Indianapolis on Tuesday, Wilson picked up a technical foul after confronting a fan, and the league confirmed before Game 3 that no further action would be taken.
"I have my moments because I'm human," Wilson said. "But after a while, I understood I didn't want that to be a distraction to myself and my team... So I put it behind me."
Chelsea Gray added 23 points and Jackie Young posted 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as Las Vegas played only seven players, with Gray and Young logging all 40 minutes. Stephanie Talbot was a late scratch with a leg injury and Jewell Loyd started in her place, scoring 11 points.
Indiana, who forced a decider with a 99-89 Game 2 win in Indianapolis, stayed in the fight to the end. Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 23 points on 7-of-23 shooting, Aliyah Boston had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Caitlin Clark finished with 18 points and a career-high four blocks after scoring 11 in the first quarter. Clark left briefly in the fourth quarter after taking an elbow to the face but returned.
The game carried the intensity of a Finals, with technical fouls called on Clark and the Aces' Brianna Turner just over three minutes in and on Indiana coach Stephanie White in the second quarter. Las Vegas led 67-55 in the third before the Fever twice cut the margin to two in the fourth.
"We've got to give credit to the Aces," Clark said. "They played well. They were ready to go. That's what championship teams do."
Sources
https://www.cbssports.com/wnba/news/aja-wilson-scores-36-as-aces-eliminate-fever-in-game-3/ https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/las-vegas-aces-vs-indiana-095955461.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
