Aces Pull Out Heart-Pounding 110-98 OT Win In Seattle To Set Up Possible Series-Clinching Game Tuesday
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By Alan Snel and Cassandra Cousineau of LVSportsBiz.com
The Las Vegas Aces won a wild thriller of a playoff game in Seattle Sunday, forcing overtime on a basket at the buzzer and coming away with a heart-pounding 110-98 OT win over the Storm to set up a potential series-ending game on Tuesday.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been part of anything like that,” Aces head coach Becky Hammon said after the thrilling game.
Leading the charge for Las Vegas were Aces center A’ja Wilson and guard Chelsea Gray. Wilson was an inside force with 34 points, while Gray was launching moonball three-pointers to finish with 29 points.
The Aces and Storm play Game 4 of the Best-of-5 Semifinals at Climate Pledge Arena in two days. If Aces win Game 4, they will play the Chicago-Connecticut winner in the WNBA Finals.
It’s never over until the buzzer goes off. . . Today it took 45 minutes — Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon
The Aces game out smoking hot in the first quarter and led by double-figures in the first half, which ended with the Aces up, 48-40, after the first 20 minutes.
“I thought the way we came out of the gates really put us in a good spot,” Hammon said in the postgame.
But Seattle clawed its way back into the game in the third quarter and led, 81-78, in the fourth quarter. Later in the game’s final regulation minute, the Storm actually had a four-point lead.
It set up a wild ending in regulation.
Wilson made a power drive to the hoop to give the Aces a 90-89 lead with 2.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
But then Seattle’s Sue Bird took a pass deep in the corner and drained a three-pointer to give the Storm a 92-90 lead with .8 of a second to go.
Las Vegas responded with a Jackie Young buzzer-beating bucket to tie the game at 92 and send the game into OT.
LVSportsBiz.com asked Wilson what she said to her team after Bird hit the shot seemingly to seal the game for the Storm in regulation.
“I have no idea what I said in the moment, but we stayed locked in and Jackie came in and knocked down the shot,” Wilson said.
The Storm’s Breanna Stewart started the overtime with a basket and was fouled. She missed the foul shot and Las Vegas responded. The Aces outplayed Seattle the rest of the OT and now are a win away from reaching the Finals against either Chicago or Connecticut. The defending champion Sky lead the series, 2-1, after defeating the Sun Sunday.
Stewart led Seattle with 20 points and Bird scored 17, including what most people thought was the game-winning three-pointer near the end of regulation. Jewell Loyd scored 17, too, while Tina Charles scored 16.
“We can still give more because these are the games we play for,” Wilson said.
