Jackie Young and NaLyssa Smith lead
Aces past Fever 84-72 for 2-1 lead in WNBA semifinal series
[September 27, 2025]
By MICHAEL MAROT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Jackie Young scored 25 points in her home state,
NaLyssa Smith added 16 points against her former team and the Las
Vegas Aces beat the short-handed Indiana Fever 84-72 on Friday night
in Game 3 of a best-of-five WNBA semifinal series.
The Aces lead 2-1 and would reach their third WNBA Finals in four
years with a win Sunday in Indianapolis.
“We just have to get the job done Sunday,” said Young, who played on
Las Vegas' championship teams in 2022 and 2023 and finished her prep
career as the Indiana girls' basketball career scoring leader with
3,268 points. “The job's not finished yet. Second round, right?”
To achieve its biggest goal, Las Vegas will need A'ja Wilson to
shoot better than she did Friday. Wilson opened the game with a
3-pointer, then missed her next 11 shots. The four-time MVP finished
with 13 points on 6-of-20 shooting and had eight rebounds, four
assists and three blocks. Chelsea Gray had 15 points and six
assists.
Kelsey Mitchell led Indiana with 21 points and Lexie Hull finished
with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Aliyah Boston had 12 points, eight
rebounds and four assists for the Fever, who held a 16-4 edge in
offensive rebounds.
The Fever got through the first round of the playoffs and beat Las
Vegas in Game 1 despite having lost Caitlin Clark, Sydney Colson,
Aari McDonald and Sophie Cunningham to season-ending injuries during
the regular season.
Indiana wore down late on Friday, going nearly nine minutes between
baskets, a stretch that began late in the third quarter. The Aces
took full advantage by scoring eight straight to extend a four-point
lead to 71-59 midway through the fourth.
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Las Vegas Aces' NaLyssa Smith, right, is tied up by Indiana Fever's
Lexie Hull during first half of Game 3 of a WNBA basketball playoff
semifinals series, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP
Photo/Darron Cummings)
“I thought we got a lot of good shots. Didn’t make
a lot of them, you know,” Fever coach Stephanie White said. “We
missed some opportunities at the free-throw line and then got a
little stagnant. They were still in a good spot, though, because we
were still getting stops until about the middle of the fourth
quarter.”
Las Vegas controlled most of the first half, scoring the first six
points of the second quarter to take a 26-16 lead.
But another boisterous home crowd — and Wilson closing the half with
10 straight misses — buoyed the Fever. Three straight 3-pointers
helped Indiana charge back within 35-34 at halftime.
The Fever took their first lead on Boston's layup to open the second
half and led most of the third until the Aces clamped down on
defense and pulled away.
“We know how important defense is for us, that's something that
we've been really dialed into, something we've been focused on,”
said Smith, who was traded from Indiana to Dallas during the
offseason before landing in Las Vegas. “Defense is like our core
focus. When our defense is on, our offense is 10 times better.”
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