Alexa PhilippouSep 21, 2025, 07:49 PM ET
- Covers women's college basketball and the WNBA
- Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant
- Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Enquirer
LAS VEGAS -- On a day that started in celebration as superstar A'ja Wilson was awarded her fourth WNBA MVP trophy, the Indiana Fever sent Las Vegas Aces fans heading for the exits before the final buzzer.
The No. 6 seed Fever took down the No. 2 seed Aces 89-73 in Game 1 of their best-of-five semifinal series, handing the two-time champs just their second loss in the last 20 games and stealing a coveted win on Las Vegas' home floor.
Indiana closed as 8.5-point underdogs at ESPN Bet, making Sunday's outcome tied for the largest playoff spread upset in the WNBA semifinals or later since 2017.
The Aces' 16-point deficit Sunday was their largest in any game since their 53-point loss to the Lynx on Aug. 2, the game that preceded their franchise-record 17-game win streak.
It was also the team's largest home playoff loss since Game 2 of the 2021 WNBA semifinals and largest loss in any playoff game since Game 3 of the 2022 WNBA Finals.
"They played with a greater sense of urgency," Aces coach Becky Hammon said. "We couldn't catch up with their pace."
The Fever were led by their own MVP candidate in Kelsey Mitchell. The star guard tallied 34 points, the most in a WNBA semifinals debut in league history and the second-most in a playoff game in Fever history.
"Clearly we had no answer for Mitchell," Hammon said. "She made every freaking shot, it seemed like... she had a hot night and we let her get going."
Indiana mostly controlled the game beginning in the first quarter, thriving off pushing the pace and beating the Aces back in transition. While Mitchell was the head of the snake, the Fever also got big contributions from Odyssey Sims (17 points) and Natasha Howard (12 points, 11 rebounds), ultimately shooting 50% from the field compared to Las Vegas' 41%.
"We wanted to come in and be the aggressor right away," Fever coach Stephanie White said, "to make sure that we were dictating on the defensive end, and we were dictating from a pace standpoint."
Added Las Vegas' Jackie Young: "We didn't really have a pep to us, like the pace that they were playing at, the pep that they had in their step, we just didn't have that today. It's on us to change that next game."
Though the Aces pulled within three late in the third period, Indiana responded with a 13-0 run that effectively decided the game. The Fever ultimately led for 33 minutes on the afternoon, including for the entire second half.
Indiana, who's down star Caitlin Clark and five others due to injury, has now won three-straight playoff games, including two while facing elimination in the first round and six of their last seven, continuing its unexpected postseason run.
"Our group was just, it was unbelievable," said Mitchell, who finished 12 from 23 from the field and 4 for 6 from 3. "We were resilient. They went on a run at the end of the [first] quarter, and I think that was big for us because we didn't fold. At any given time, we can and we won't, so I'm proud of our group."
Mitchell's big night, which included a timely 3-pointer at the end of the third to put Indiana up 14 and ensure the momentum heading into the final frame, marked the most memorable performance yet in her brilliant postseason. Her 104 points these playoffs are the most over a four-game span in franchise playoff history.
"I just try to keep it about basketball," Mitchell said "I think what you guys see is just me trying to just be a kid in the playground, I guess."
Added White: "There have been multiple times this season where she's put us on her back, and she's carried us... she's just a tough shot maker."
While the Aces struggled on the defensive end, Wilson also had an off night by her standards. Though she had a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double going into the break, she converted only 6 for of her 22 field goals overall and managed just four points in the second half.
According to ESPN Tracking and GeniusIQ, Wilson shot 2-11 against Indiana's Aliyah Boston, her worst field goal percentage against a single defender in a playoff game over the last five seasons.
Hammon felt that her team was "ultra, ultra stagnant" as a whole offensively, and that while Wilson tends to bounce back well from bad games, "it's on the rest of us to give her support."
Their next opportunity to do that will be in Game 2 Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. ET.
