Defense prevails as Aces pick up second straight win over Fever

Clicking at the right time of the season, the Las Vegas Aces have won six of their last seven games.

Las Vegas earned a second straight win over Indiana, 78-74, Saturday, Sept. 13 as part of a back-to-back from Gainbridge Fieldhouse. It’s the first time the Fever have suffered back-to-back losses since doing so back in June.

As a result, the Aces are the only team to not have been beaten by the team from the Hoosier State this season. Moreover, the Las Vegas franchise has won the last 15 meetings with Indiana which is the third-longest streak against a single team in the league currently.

”I think its huge anytime you can get those types of games throughout a season,” guard Chelsea Gray said. “Not even scout or getting on the court with how you can change things X’s and O’s-wise but how you prepare your body, how you recover, how you watch film from game one to game two.”

That brings an end to a four-game road trip for the Aces that saw them take three of those matchups. The only loss of the stretch came to the league-leading New York Liberty.

Overall, Las Vegas is now 24-13 on the year and are still currently slotted in the fourth spot of the WNBA standings. The fifth-seeded Seattle Storm remain just one game behind the back-to-back defending champions.

With three more games left to play in the regular season, two at home, the team will return home for the final meeting with Connecticut. That contest will be played Sunday, Sept. 15 from the Michelob Ultra Arena with tip-off slated for 3 p.m.

“For us, I think we’re just focused on the next game,” guard Kelsey Plum said. “We play Connecticut, they’re one of the best teams in the league — super tough. We have a tough remaining schedule so to be honest we’ve got to focus on what’s in front of us.”

Looking to pick up a win to avoid a regular season sweep, Indiana scratched and clawed its way back into the game several times Saturday but couldn’t make it fully over the hump.

The Fever went on a 13-4 run to close the third quarter and turn a once 13-point deficit into a three-point hole with 10 more minutes to play.

“This is why I don’t even have social media on my phone,” Plum said. “[They were like] anytime Indiana makes a run you guys just find a way to come back. I’m like, ‘No offense but like, well I would hope so.’ Not [to be] like disrespectful but like we have competitors.”

Early in the fourth quarter, a three-point from forward Damiris Dantas tied the game at 60 apiece with about nine and a half left to play.  Las Vegas would try to create distance again in the form of a short 5-0 spurt.

Dantas was the start of an early first half 7-0 run by the home team to cut it to a point that saw her pour in five of them. As it did later in the game, the Aces countered that 7-0 rally with an 11-2 response of their own.

“I think basketball is a game of runs,” Gray said. “So you would expect us to come back I think.”

Plum drilled a crucial three with just under 55 seconds left to go in regulation to put her team up five points. Even when she missed another trey attempt about 30 seconds later, it was the Las Vegas defense that decided the outcome.

Up three with 23.1 seconds left in the game, Indiana opted to go for a corner three from former No. 1 overall pick Aliyah Boston. That attempt clanked off the rim and into the waiting hands of forward A’ja Wilson.

Wilson posted a monster double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds in 36-plus minutes on the floor.

Guard Chelsea Gray led all scorers with 21 points on a super efficient 7-for-11 from the field to go along with a team-high six assists.

“Being able to see the ball go through the basket,” she said. “I was able to get into the paint a little bit and got into a flow.”

The aforementioned Plum added 18 points of her own followed by fellow starting guard Jackie Young’s 12.

Halftime adjustments were also a vital part of hanging on for the road win. Indiana guard Kelsey Mitchel erupted for 16 points in the first half but would not score in the second half until a pair of free throws more than halfway through the fourth quarter.

“I thought we did a great job as a team but Kelsey Mitchell was cooking,” Plum said. “She hit a couple on me as well.”