A’ja Wilson scored 21 points, Tiffany Hayes added 20 off the bench and a strong defensive performance in the fourth quarter led the host Las Vegas Aces to a 78-67 win over the Seattle Storm on Sunday night in Game 1 of a best-of-three playoff series.
Las Vegas held Seattle without a field goal in the fourth quarter, and the Storm didn’t score until Skylar Diggins-Smith made two free throws with 4:07 left.
Seattle was 0-of-12 from the field in the final 10 minutes of the game.
The Aces struggled to get any offense going against Seattle’s suffocating defense and were within five points when Diggins-Smith hit a free throw. The Aces didn’t score in the fourth quarter, and Kelsey Plum hit a layup with 7:08 left in the game, which was Plum’s only point of the night.
Following a late free throw from Diggins-Smith, Vegas scored eight straight points to close out the game.
Chelsea Gray, who scored 16 points for the Aces, capped a late run with two baskets. Gray also had a team-high seven assists.
Jackie Young added 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Las Vegas. Wilson, who was unanimously named the WNBA MVP early Sunday, tied Kiah Stokes for the team-high with eight rebounds.
Nneka Ogwumike recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the loss, Gabby Williams had 14 points and eight rebounds, and Mercedes Russell had eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Diggins Smith led Seattle with 16 points and a game-high eight assists. Las Vegas held Jewell Loyd, who was returning from a knee injury, to just six points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field.
The Storm struggled to find scoring opportunities inside, making just 25 of 68 shots (36.8 percent) from the field, but Wilson was outstanding protecting the rim, recording five blocked shots.
Seattle, missing Edji Magbegor (concussion), led 65-64 going into the fourth quarter before surrendering points.
–Field Level Media
