Las Vegas Aces pick up bounce-back win over Indiana Fever, even WNBA semifinal series at 1-1

LAS VEGAS — The Aces evened their WNBA semifinal series with the Fever, 1-1, Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

This year’s WNBA MVP, A’Ja Wilson, scored 25 points and corralled nine rebounds to push the Aces to a 90-68 win. Wilson enjoyed a bounce-back performance in Game 2 of the series after amassing just 16 points on 6-of-22 shooting in Game 1.

Thanks to Wilson’s efforts, the Aces got off to a fast start. Las Vegas led 26-17 at the end of the first quarter, and with about six minutes left in the second quarter, the Aces’ lead ballooned to 17 points.

Indiana briefly appeared poised to challenge Las Vegas’ lead in the third quarter. With just under nine minutes left in the third period, point guard Odyssey Sims hit two free throws to cut Indiana’s deficit to eight, 50-42.

By the end of the third quarter, however, the Aces had reasserted their dominance, taking a 70-52 lead into the fourth quarter. When the dust settled, a play-by-play breakdown of Tuesday’s game indicated that the Fever trailed the Aces for the final 35 minutes and 16 seconds of the contest.

Las Vegas’ success can at least partly be attributed its ability to stop the Fever’s WNBA MVP finalist, Kelsey Mitchell. In Game 1 of the series, Mitchell scored 34 points. She managed just 13 points in Game 2.

The Fever’s leading scorer in Game 2 was Sims with 18 points.

Forward NaLyssa Smith also played a key role in the Aces’ win Tuesday night. She finished the game with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

Smith started her WNBA career with the Fever in 2022. She played three seasons with Indiana and had a brief stint with the Dallas Wings before landing with the Aces.

Smith’s output Tuesday far exceeded her season average. On the year, she’s scored about 7.6 points a game.

Four of Indiana’s five starters scored in double figures Tuesday night, counting Sims and Mitchell. Center Aliyah Boston and guard Lexie Hull finished the contest with 10 and 15 points, respectively.

Indiana has been ravaged by injuries for much of the season, and Game 2 of the WNBA Finals was no exception. Forwards Damiris Dantas and Chloe Bibby and guards Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson and Caitlin Clark all missed the game with injuries.

Clark played in just 13 games in 2025. The second-year guard out of Iowa, who has been working through a groin injury, was ruled out for the remainder of this season on Sept. 4.

Cunningham played in 30 games this season before she sustained a season-ending knee injury in August.

Game 3 of the WNBA semifinal series between the Aces and Fever will begin on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Game 4 of the series is slated for Sunday 3 p.m.