A’ja Wilson scored 38 points and Jackie Young hit the go-ahead basket in the final seconds as the Las Vegas Aces edged the Seattle Storm 74-73 on Thursday night to reach the WNBA semifinals, according to the Associated Press.
Wilson tied her playoff career high with 38 points, including 25 in the second half, but missed a layup with 25 seconds remaining.
That set up Seattle’s Erica Wheeler, who pushed the ball up court on a 2-on-1 fast break with Skylar Diggins and hit a pull-up jumper from the lane to give the Storm a 73-72 lead with 18 seconds left.
Las Vegas answered when Young grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a follow shot with 12.4 seconds to go.
Out of a timeout, Seattle again put the ball in Wheeler’s hands, but her jumper from the free-throw line bounced off the rim, and the Storm could not get off another attempt before time expired.
The victory secured Las Vegas’ seventh consecutive trip to the semifinals.
The Aces, seeded second, will face No. 6 Indiana on Sunday. Indiana advanced earlier in the evening by eliminating Atlanta.
Wilson went 14 of 26 from the field and 10 of 11 from the line.
It was the sixth time in her career she has scored 30 or more points in a playoff game, tying her for the second-most such performances in league history.
Young added 14 points, and Chelsea Gray finished with 12 points and eight assists.
Seattle was led by Nneka Ogwumike, who scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half.
Wheeler also had 16, while Diggins scored 13, including a corner 3-pointer with 1:14 left that gave the Storm a 71-70 lead — their first since the opening quarter.
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