3 takeaways from Aces’ win: Plum steps up to break Fever
A’ja Wilson picked up her fourth foul late in the third quarter Saturday, and the Aces needed someone to step up with their lead over the Indiana Fever cut to 10.
Enter Kelsey Plum.
“That’s what makes a good team,” Plum said. “It’s not just one player. It’s anyone, any given night, any quarter. I just happened to be cutting a lot, and I was open. They found me and it worked out.”
The first-team All-WNBA guard scored 12 points in the third quarter and ended up with 26 points on 64.3 percent shooting, and the Aces held off the Fever for a 101-88 win at Michelob Ultra Arena.
Wilson, the reigning WNBA MVP, poured in a team-best 28 points for the Aces (12-1), and two-time MVP Candace Parker had her highest scoring game in an Aces uniform to date with 15 points. Veteran point guard Chelsea Gray added 13 points and 12 assists.
The victory extends the Aces’ winning streak to five games, and they remain undefeated at Michelob Ultra Arena. The Aces also earned their 10th straight win against the Fever.
The teams play again at 7 p.m. Monday at Michelob Ultra Arena.
“Definitely some things we’re going to come back and take a look at defensively,” coach Becky Hammon said. “It’s always tough to beat a team twice in a row, so we’re going to have to have that lock-in factor in this next game.”
Forward NaLyssa Smith led Indiana (5-8) with 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Aliyah Boston, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, scored 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting for the Fever.
Here are the three takeaways from the game:
1. South Carolina showdown
Almost immediately following the tipoff, Wilson and Boston went right at each other. The forwards each won national championships as cornerstones at South Carolina for coach Dawn Staley and were No. 1 overall picks for their respective WNBA teams.
Boston was a handful in the low post for the entire game. She scored 14 points in the first half, despite being guarded most often by Wilson, the reigning defensive player of the year. Boston’s array of low-post moves kept the Aces off-balance, and Indiana constantly hunted ways to get her touches near the rim.
While Boston was solid, Wilson made her presence felt immediately. She scored 18 points in the first half, using her mid-range game to force Boston out of the paint. Wilson’s foul trouble prevented her from matching up with Boston as much in the second half.
“My teammates trusted me with the basketball,” Wilson said. “And we got things rolling.”
2. Aces start hot from 3
The Fever didn’t necessarily play poor defense in the first half. Indiana shot 47.2 percent from the floor and 44 percent from 3, yet at halftime, the Aces led by 14 points.
The Aces shot 53.8 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, going 7 of 13 from 3. Plum and Gray had multiple makes from deep, and Wilson made her first 3 of the season, breaking an 0-for-8 streak.
The Aces shot 47.8 percent from 3 for the game, with six players making a 3. Four players made multiple shots from deep, led by Plum’s three.
3. Containing Mitchell
Kelsey Mitchell got loose back when these teams met in Indianapolis on June 4. The former Ohio State guard, who was selected one pick after the the Aces took Wilson in the 2018 draft, scored 22 points and made five 3s as the Aces escaped with an 84-80 win.
Hammon’s team did a better job on Mitchell on Saturday. Plum hounded her defensively, and the Aces held Mitchell to single-digit scoring for the first time all season. She finished with just nine points on 2-of-8 shooting. Mitchell entered Saturday having scored 19 or more in three of her past four games.
“(Plum) is drawing some assignments just because of her awareness and her competitiveness,” Hammon said. “She’s just a pain in the butt defensively, so we wanted to make Mitchell work for everything she got. She gave us buckets in the last game, so we wanted to be really focused on her.”
Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.
