Kelsey Mitchell scored a playoff-career high 34 points and the Indiana Fever beat the Las Vegas Aces 89-73 on Sunday in Game 1 of the best-of-five semi-final series.
After seeing their double-digit lead shrink to three points with 2:51 left in the third, the Fever closed the quarter on an 11-0 run to extend their advantage to 14 points, seizing control of the game and never looking back.
Mitchell, who finished fifth in MVP voting with 93 points, scored 17 points in the first half, setting the tone for the Fever’s offense. The veteran guard, who finished the regular season ranked third in scoring with 20.2 points per game, shot 12 of 23 (52.2%) from the floor, including 4 of 6 from three-point range in her first-ever semi-final game.
“I think what you guys see is just me trying to just be a kid in the playground,” said Mitchell, whose scoring tally was the second-highest in franchise history.
Odyssey Sims had 17 points, while Natasha Howard finished with a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds). The Fever finished the game hitting 50% from the floor (34 of 68), while the Aces shot just 29 of 71 (40.8%).
“We wanted to come in and be the aggressor right away to make sure that we were dictating on the defensive end, and we were dictating from a pace standpoint,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “We knew that they were going to make runs. They made a big one in the third and we responded with a big one. It’s one game, it’s a long series … But to come in here and to be able to steal this one was big for us.”
The victory spoiled A’ja Wilson’s celebration after she became the WNBA’s first player to win four MVPs in her career. The 29-year-old, who was also named the AP Player of the Year, finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Wilson shot just 27.3% (6 of 22) from the field. Jackie Young led the Aces with 19 points, while Dana Evans came off the bench to score 14 points and Chelsea Gray chipped in with 13.
Las Vegas hadn’t lost at home since 2 August, when the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx handed the Aces the worst home loss in WNBA history, a 53-point beatdown. From that point, the Aces closed the regular season on a 16-game win streak before defeating the Seattle Storm in the opening round.
The win was even more impressive, considering the Aces came into the game without a single player on the injured list, while the Fever had six. Already shorthanded without Chloe Bibby (left knee), Caitlin Clark (right groin), Sydney Colson (left knee), Sophie Cunningham (right knee) and Aari McDonald (right foot), Indiana added Damiris Dantas to the list, as she was in concussion protocol.