A’ja Wilson scored a playoff career-high 34 points and Chelsea Gray had eight of her playoff career-high 29 points in overtime as the visiting Las Vegas Aces defeated the Seattle Storm 110-98 on Sunday to take a 2-1 lead in their WNBA semifinals series.
Gray added 12 assists and Wilson added 11 rebounds for the top-seeded Aces, who will try to win the best-of-five series Tuesday night in Seattle. Kelsey Plum scored 16 points and Riquna Williams had 14 points.
Breanna Stewart had 20 points and 15 rebounds, Jewell Loyd and Sue Bird scored 17 apiece, Tina Charles had 16, Stephanie Talbot 12 and Ezi Magbegor 10 to lead the No. 4 seed Storm.
Stewart’s basket started the overtime scoring, but Plum converted a three-point play to give Las Vegas the lead for good. Wilson added a basket and Gray had five points during a 7-0 run that gave the Aces a 104-96 lead with 1:44 left.
Late in the fourth quarter, Loyd made two free throws to increase Seattle’s lead to four before Williams sank a 3-pointer with 10.2 seconds left. After Charles missed two free throws Wilson’s layup gave the Aces a 90-89 lead with 2.7 seconds left.
Bird’s 3-pointer gave the Storm the lead again before Jackie Young’s layup beat the buzzer to tie the score and force overtime.
Talbot converted a four-point play and Bird added a 3-pointer to pull the Storm within 72-71 early in the fourth quarter.
Baskets by Gray and Wilson kept Las Vegas on top until Talbot made consecutive 3-pointers to give Seattle an 81-78 lead.
Williams made a 3-pointer to tie the score at 81 and it was tied twice more before Stewart’s third consecutive basket gave the Storm an 87-85 lead with 54.2 seconds left.
Seattle’s 16-4 run to start the third quarter gave it a 56-52 lead, but two 3-pointers by Williams and one by Young gave the Aces a 68-64 lead at the end of the third quarter.
–Field Level Media
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