Las Vegas Aces Stumble In Semifinals Opener Against Indiana Fever

It's WNBA Semifinals time in Las Vegas and Aces fans were there for it, bringing their high-energy excitement to Michelob ULTRA Arena, aka "The House," for Game 1 against the Indiana Fever.

Despite the high energy and hopeful vibes throughout the arena, the Aces had a tough game, losing to the Fever 89-73.

Game 2 will also be played in Vegas on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 6:30 p.m. PT.

It wasn't the outcome Aces fans had hoped for going into Game 1 of the Semifinals against the Fever.

Aces star A'ja Wilson finished the game with 16 points, shooting 27.2% from the field. Jackie Young had 19 points and seven rebounds.

For the Fever, Kelsey Mitchell had a playoff career high 34 points. Odyssey Sims added 17 points and Natasha Howard scored 12.

After the game, head coach Becky Hammon took questions from the media during the postgame press conference. When asked about "shots rattling in and out," Hammon talked about missed layups.

"We at least missed 9, maybe 10, I know we had six or seven at halftime and the trend kind of continued of missing layups," Hammon said.

"So, I mean, that's potentially 20 points on the board. Even with that being said, our problem was on the defensive end and not moving the ball at all on the offensive end. It was...we'll have to talk about it."

Let's go back a little and recap how the Aces got here today.

Wilson and Young answered media questions after winning the quarterfinals series against the Seattle Storm last week. Wilson said she was "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 added some input into her end of the game put-back heard 'round the WNBA world.

"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, who is often heard praising her teammates, 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."

Sunday morning, ahead of Game 1 of the Semifinals, it was announced that Aces star Wilson is the 2025 WNBA MVP. This was a historical win for Wilson who became the first player in league history to be named MVP four times. She won this honor in 2020, 2022, 2024, and now in 2025, making this her third MVP award in a row. She was awarded a specially designed trophy by Tiffany & Co. in a ceremony held center court before the game.

According to a press release sent to The Blast from the Aces organization, "Wilson received 51 of 72 first-place votes and 21 second-place votes (657 points) from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (534 points) finished in second place, followed by Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (391 points) in third place, Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray (180 points) in fourth place and Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (93 points) in fifth place. Players were awarded 10 points for a first-place vote, seven points for a second-place vote, five points for a third-place vote, three points for a fourth-place vote and one point for a fifth-place vote."

Wilson credits her team for this win and said "this one is all of us."

"They counted us out, wrote us all off, but we showed up every single day and we worked our a-ses off. We worked our a-ses off and this has my name on it and it's gonna be there but this one is all of us," she said in a video shared on IG.

"There is no that without each and every last one of you guys and I just want to thank y'all so much for just putting up with me for one, but also never losing yourselves through this process. We've been through it but we never lost hope and belief in each other and that's what makes this so special. I just can't thank you guys enough."