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Kelsey Plum matched her career playoff high with 29 points on Tuesday night while WNBA Most Valuable Player A’ja Wilson added a double-double as the fourth-seeded Las Vegas Aces beat the visiting Seattle Storm 83-76 for a two-game quarter-final sweep.
The two-time defending league champion Aces will start a best-of-five semi-final series Sunday on the road against the top-seeded New York Liberty. Las Vegas lost all three games in the regular-season series with New York but looked more like their championship self down the stretch, going 9-1 to end the campaign.
Plum hit 11 of 15 shots from the field, while Wilson added 24 points and a game-high 13 rebounds as the Aces dominated the glass, 45-30. Las Vegas’ Chelsea Gray contributed 12 points and nine assists.
Gabby Williams scored 20 points to lead fifth-seeded Seattle, while Nneka Ogwumike added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Ezi Magbegor returned from missing the previous four games with a concussion and tallied 14 points. Skylar Diggins-Smith chipped in 13 points and 10 assists.
The Storm took their only lead of the night with 7:58 left in the game on a putback by Mercedes Russell, but Las Vegas quickly regained control with seven straight points. Jackie Young scored in transition for a 71-65 advantage with 6:05 remaining, and the Aces stayed in front from there.
Las Vegas got off to a strong start in their bid to eliminate Seattle, with Plum and Wilson each putting up 12 points in the first quarter. The Aces led 23-7 less than five minutes into the game before settling for a 30-20 advantage going into the second quarter.
Seattle controlled most of the second period, edging within 39-38 on Magbegor’s layup at the 2:21 mark. However, the Aces rallied for the last six points of the first half, with Wilson canning two foul shots with 2.8 seconds left to make it 45-38 at the break.
The Storm tied the game twice in the first four minutes of the third quarter, but Las Vegas fought back for a 57-51 lead on Wilson’s layup with 3:05 remaining. Plum’s floater with 6.8 seconds on the clock gave the Aces a 62-57 edge going into the fourth period.
Atlanta Dream 82-91 New York Liberty
Sabrina Ionescu poured in a playoff-career-high 36 points, Jonquel Jones had a double-double and the Liberty completed a 2-0 first-round sweep of the Dream with a 91-82 home win on Tuesday.
The top-seeded Liberty, who beat the eighth-seeded Dream 83-69 on Sunday in Game 1 of the best-of-three series, advanced to the semifinals for the second straight season.
New York are off to face the fourth-seeded Aces, who completed a 2-0 sweep of their own earlier Tuesday.
Ionescu shot 12-for-23 from the floor, including 5-for-11 from three-point range, and added nine assists. She put the Liberty ahead for good with a three-pointer that made it 70-67 with 7:17 left in the fourth quarter.
Jones scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting and grabbed 13 rebounds. Breanna Stewart added 13 points and Leonie Fiebich had nine for New York.
Allisha Gray put up 26 points to lead Atlanta, who were swept out of the first round of the playoffs for the second straight season. Rhyne Howard had 19 points, Tina Charles added 14 and Naz Hillmon paired six points with 10 rebounds.
The Dream pulled even at 67 on Nia Coffey’s three-pointer with 9:01 to go and trailed 73-72 after Gray’s fifth trey of the night with 6:03 to play. The Liberty took over from there, rattling off a 12-2 run to put the game out of reach.
New York went up 82-74 on Fiebich’s three-point play before Fiebich’s three-pointer made it 85-74 with 3:37 left. The Liberty maintained at least a seven-point lead the rest of the way.
New York made eight more free throws than Atlanta and had an 18-11 edge in points off turnovers.
The Dream led 28-19 after a perfect first quarter from Gray, who scored 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting, including four three-pointers. She went scoreless in the second as the Liberty used a 21-8 run to go up 40-36 midway through the quarter. Atlanta responded with a 12-3 surge to enter halftime leading 48-43 after Charles’ jumper with three seconds left in the first half.
The Dream went ahead 55-47 on Howard’s three-pointer before New York charged ahead 63-59 with 1:52 left in the third quarter. Ionescu delivered 11 points in the third for the Liberty, while Gray ended her drought with a late flurry to pull Atlanta within 65-64 entering the fourth.
