Aces eliminate Storm to advance to semifinals

It was down to the wire as the Las Vegas Aces (34-14), 2-1) were on the hunt to close out the opening series of the playoffs against the Seattle Storm (23-21, 1-2) on Thursday night at the Michelob ULTRA Arena.

A’ja Wilson got the Aces rolling with a 7-footer from NaLyssa Smith to give the Aces the first two points of the game. Jewell Loyd came up with a nice block against Gabby Williams in the paint to stop the momentum of the Storm. It wasn’t enough at Seattle started to heat up. Seattle held a 19-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

With 8:25 remaining in the second quarter, Chelsea Gray hit a 14-footer from Jewell Loyd to tie the Aces with Seattle, 19-19. Erica Wheeler then countered back with a jumper in the paint to give the lead back to Seattle, 21-19.

Dana Evans fed A’ja Wilson in the paint to tie the game again at 21-21 with. 6:28 remaining in the half. The second quarter began to turn into a shootout as both teams went shot-for-shot to tie the game again, 23-23. The Aces managed to hold on to a 33-26 lead over the Storm going into halftime.

During the first half, A’ja Wilson collected another milestone but moving up to No. 8 all-time in playoff scoring in WNBA history.

In the third quarter, Gabby Williams came out blazing for Seattle, hitting a three-pointer to inch them closer to the Aces, 33-29. Chelsea Gray came up with her second steal of the game to earn the 2^nd most career playoff steals in franchise history.

Both teams took this game to the wire. During the fourth quarter, A’ja Wilson moved to No. 6 in WNBA playoff history with the most 20+ point games.

Skylar Diggins connected on a 25-footer to give Seattle a 71-70 lead with 1:14 remaining in the game. As the clock ticked down, Jackie Young got the tip-in for the Aces to give them the 74-73 win.

With the win, the Aces eliminated Seattle from the playoffs, and they advance to the semifinals to meet the Indiana Fever, who stunned the Atlanta Dream in an upset.