MVP favorite A’Ja Wilson tied her playoff career high with 38 points (including 25 in the second half), and Jackie Young’s go-ahead put-back with 12.4 seconds left propelled the Las Vegas Aces to defeat the Seattle Storm 74-73 on Thursday night. It’s the Aces'  seventh consecutive semifinal appearance, and they are in pursuit of their third WNBA title in four years. 

Following the game, Wilson spoke about the Aces’ determination in the hotly contested battle.

"No pun intended, but we weathered the Storm," Aces star A'ja Wilson said during her postgame interview with ESPN. "They punched us and we punched back and we kept punching. I can't express how proud I am of my team, but the job is not done. This is the first round, we gotta get ready for the next one."

In a total team effort, the Aces held Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins to a combined 29 points.

But Erica Wheeler, who scored 16 points off the bench, almost pulled off the win for the Storm. Wheeler hit a pull-up jump shot with under 20 seconds remaining to give Seattle a 73-72 lead. 

“I don't know, we kind of stole one there," Aces coach Becky Hammon said postgame. "Obviously, trying to give 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. So a lot of it was to give the ball to her and get out of the way, let her go be her. Obviously, Jackie's putback was ridiculous. We've been harping on crashing the ball the whole time. Jackie was right on time with that one."

Next up for the Aces are the Indian Fever in a best-of-five semifinal series that begins Sunday.

Although they are without Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham, the Indiana Fever never made any excuse. After defeating the Atlanta Dream in a first-round upset, the Fever have punched their tickets to the semi-finals of the WNBA playoffs with a thrilling win, 87-85. 

Trailing for most of the contest, the Fever held the Dream scoreless in the final 2:30, capping it off with a 7-0 run to seal the game.

Kelsey Mitchell, who led the Fever with 24 points, spoke about the team’s resilience and belief in each other.

“I said before the game started, it was going to be a gut-check type of game," said Mitchell, "We could have easily given up. We played them here in Atlanta. A lot of factors, the fans. And we didn't."

"I can't put it into words. I'm just speechless right now, just how we fought through this whole game,” Natasha Howard added.

"This group is just really special," Fever coach Stephanie White said. "I mean, we say it pretty much ad nauseam, but it's the resilience, the flexibility, the welcoming, inclusive nature of this team, their selflessness to pull for the we over the me, the ability to let each teammate be who they are and shine at their best and to lift them up. ... You couple that with the resilience, the toughness, the grit, the fight, the scrappiness, and you always give yourself a chance."