WNBA playoffs: Fever take Game 1 with decisive 89-73 win over Aces in semifinal matchup

The Indiana Fever continued its surprising postseason run with an 89-73 win over the Las Vegas Aces in Game 1 of their WNBA semifinal playoff series.

Kelsey Mitchell scored 34 points, hitting 4 of 6 3-pointers, to lead Indiana. Odyssey Sims followed with 17, while Natasha Howard added 12 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals

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The Fever went on a 16-6 surge to begin the third quarter, powered by Sims scoring 8 points, to take a 57-43 lead midway through the frame. From there, the Aces went on a 10-0 run with Chelsea Gray scoring five points to cut the deficit to 57-53. However, 3-pointers by Mitchell and Lexie Hull restored the Fever’s lead to 69-55 going into the fourth.

Fresh off winning her fourth WNBA MVP award, A’ja Wilson scored 16 points and grabbed 13 boards for the Aces. However, she shot 6-for-22 from the floor. Wilson also had four personal fouls going into the fourth quarter, which limited her aggressiveness late in the game.

Jackie Young led Las Vegas with 19 points and seven rebounds, with Dana Evans contributing 14 points off the bench. Gray added 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

Indiana took a 19-10 lead with 2:55 remaining in the first quarter, but the Aces went on an 8-0 run to end the frame. Las Vegas then scored the first five points of the second quarter to take a 23-19 lead at the 8:24 mark. The Aces regained the lead at 27-25 on a Wilson layup with 5:05 remaining before halftime.

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The two teams then traded baskets through the next three minutes before Indiana went on a 6-0 run to build a 7-point margin. But Wilson hit a short jumper with 19 seconds left to pull the Aces to within a 41-36 margin at the half.

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Tuesday in Las Vegas with tip-off at 9:30 p.m. ET.