Fever Aces Basketball Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) drives against Indiana Fever forward Aliyah Boston (7) during the first half of Game 5 of a WNBA basketball playoff semifinals series Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) (John Locher/AP)
Fever Aces Basketball Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (0) reacts after she was called for a foul against the Las Vegas Aces during the first half of Game 5 of a WNBA basketball playoff semifinals series Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) (John Locher/AP)
Fever Aces Basketball Indiana Fever guard Shey Peddy (5) fouls Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) during the first half of Game 5 of a WNBA basketball playoff semifinals series Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) (John Locher/AP)
Fever Aces Basketball Indiana Fever forward Natasha Howard (6) passes the ball against the Las Vegas Aces during the first half of Game 5 of a WNBA basketball playoff semifinals series Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher) (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) (John Locher/AP)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A’ja Wilson scored 35 points and Jackie Young had 32 to lead the Aces back to the WNBA Finals as Las Vegas held off pesky Indiana 107-98 in overtime in the deciding Game 5 of the semifinal series on Tuesday night after the already-depleted Fever lost another star player to injury.
The second-seeded Aces, who won the league title in 2022 and 2023, will host the fourth-seeded Phoenix Mercury on Friday in the opener of the best-of-seven championship series.
No. 6 seed Indiana made Las Vegas work for it even though the sixth-seeded Fever have been decimated by injuries, with star Kelsey Mitchell going down in the third quarter of Game 5 with an apparent left leg injury. She joined a list of injured Fever players that includes Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham.
Mitchell had scored a team-high 15 points at the time of her injury. Six Fever players reached double digits, including Odyssey Sims with 27 points and Natasha Howard with 16.
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