From Fight To Finish: A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young Share How The Aces Survived The Storm

What a game!

Thursday night's game was nothing short of lit in Sin City as the Las Vegas Aces edged out the Seattle Storm in an intense battle at Michelob ULTRA Arena. The win pushes the Aces to the Semifinals, where they will go up against the Indiana Fever.

Aces star A'ja Wilson powered the win with 38 points and Jackie Young delivered a crucial put-back in the final seconds of the nail-biter game, leading the team to advance to their seventh straight WNBA Semifinals.

If you caught any of Thursday night's Aces vs. Storm matchup, you know it was intense!

Being in the arena during this game had a certain energy that cannot be explained. Aces fans had excitement, anxiety, confidence, a little bit of fear, and probably 10 other emotions running wild throughout the entire close game. Ultimately, it came down to the last few seconds of the game!

To quickly recap - Wilson scored 38 points, tying her playoff career high. She had 25 points in the second half. Young added 14 points, including a clutch put-back in the final 12.4 seconds, which had fans on their feet gasping. Chelsea Gray added 12 points.

Aces head coach Becky Hammon shared her thoughts on the game during the postgame press conference. While she said they can "enjoy this win for tonight," she said that tomorrow it's back to work!

When she was asked to walk us through the final possessions and what it took to get this win, she started with, "Obviously, trying to get A'ja the ball."

"Trying to get certain people off A'ja, although tonight, it didn't matter who guarded her, she was just on a heater," she told the media. "Get the ball to her and get out of the way, let her go be her."

She also talked about Young's end of game put-back, saying, "Jack was right on time with that one." Later in the press conference, Hammon talked more about Young.

"Jackie is a basketball player. She knows how to make plays. She knows how to move without the ball. She knows how to make things happen when it's not necessarily for her," she said. "You can really put her anywhere and she figures out ways to impact the game."

Wilson and Young took media question after the exciting game. Wilson started off responding to a question by explaining that she hasn't had a chance to "digest anything" and said she's "very happy about how our team rallied together and did the little things."

"Even though it was not perfect, we still had each other's backs," Wilson continued. "And I think that was the perfection in my eyes. As I digest the game, I'm really, really pleased at how we really just bought into each other."

Young talked about her timely put-back at the end of the game.

"When it left, I saw that it was a little bit off to the right. It was either gonna bounce in or it's gonna come off and it came off just right. I didn't really think I had enough time to come down, honestly, and I just made a play. Just trying to make an impact, I didn't do much tonight, so just trying to make an impact in some way," she said, before Wilson said to her, "You finished the night with 14. That's someone's career high, Jack."

Wilson didn't hold back any praise she has for Young.

"The little things that she does that doesn't show up on the stat sheet, her work ethic, the way that she approaches the game, you want someone like that in your locker room," Wilson said. "I don't want us to ever feel like we're gonna let her greatness slide. Everyone talks about me, whoopty-doo, but let's not forget who Jackie Young is and why we've drafted her and how she's evolved into this perfect two-way player in our league and the career that she's gonna have. And I'm grateful to be your teammate, girl, for real, because we don't do anything without Jackie Young and it's gonna continue to be that way and I think the league knows that."

Ahead of Thursday night's game, Wilson was awarded the 2025 Kia WNBA Co-Defensive Player of the Year Award, along with Minnesota Lynx forward Alanna Smith.

Before the start of the game, Wilson's proud parents, who are always courtside cheering the team on, accepted the award on behalf of their daughter during a short ceremony held center court.

According to a press release sent to The Blast by the Aces, "Wilson led the league in blocks per game (2.3) for the fourth season in a row and her fifth overall, while also finishing atop the league leaderboards in stocks, which combines the defensive measures of steals and blocks, with 3.9 per game, total stocks (156), defensive win shares (3.3) and defensive rating (96.0)."

Panini America, the world's largest sports and entertainment collectibles company, announced that they are set to release Instant cards on Friday featuring Wilson and Smith. According to an email sent to The Blast, "The Panini Instant collection exists to commemorate milestones and achievements in real time so fans don’t have to wait months (or even seasons) to capture their favorite moments. These cards will be available this afternoon (9/19) starting at 3:00 PM ET while supplies last."

It's hard to explain what the energy is like in Michelob ULTRA Arena when the Aces are playing. It starts from the moment fans get to their seats and continues through the entire game and even beyond.

With that said, playoff energy is something elevated from the usual energy, which is already high. Fans are all friends whether they know each other or not. The common love for the game and the team instantly brings everyone together like a family event. Even the youngest generation is seen all around the arena dancing and cheering on the team.

Thursday night's game brought that energy and doubled it. At the end of the fourth quarter when it looked like the game could end either way, panic mixed in with excitement. And then when the Aces took the W and the lights went out, that energy just intensified with people screaming, dancing, cheering, and maybe even shedding some tears.

What's next? The Aces move into the Semifinals and will face the Indiana Fever. Game 1 is Sunday, Sept. 21 at 12:00 p.m. PT in Las Vegas. Game 2 is also in Vegas on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 6:30 p.m. PT.

There's nothing like home Aces game energy! Have you been to a recent Aces home game and have a story to share? Email me.