WNBA: Indiana Fever and Seattle Storm force Game 3
The WNBA Playoffs is off to an amazing start as the Indiana Fever and Seattle Storm both forced Game 3.
The Indiana Fever put a lot of energy into their defense and defeated the Atlanta Dream 77-60, limiting their offense to just 60 points.
The Fever defense kept the Dream's Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray to 19 points and 7-for-25 from the floor, compared to their 40-point combined performance in game one.
The three players who led the Fever were forward Aliyah Boston (15 points and five rebounds), guard Kelsey Mitchell (19 points and four assists), and Natasha Howard (12 points and five rebounds).
But the victory was a team effort, with guards Shey Peddy, Lexie Hull, and Aerial Powers providing the defense and physicality Indiana needed.
Seattle Storm shock Las Vegas Aces
The Seattle Storm had an offensive surge in the fourth quarter as they defeated of the Las Vegas Aces, who fell 86-83.
Seattle overcame a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to stop the win streak of the WNBA's most deadly squad.
Erica Wheeler was the catalyst for the Storm's victory, sinking a three-pointer at the three-minute mark and then making a jumper less than 1:30 into the game to cut the deficit to one point.
Then, with 31 seconds left, rookie center Dominique Malonga made a three-pointer to put the Storm ahead by one point, 84-83.
With a 10-foot pull-up jumper at the 4.7-second mark, guard Skylar Diggins' helped propel Seattle to a pivotal victory in game two.
Diggins scored 50 of the team's 86 points with forward Nneka Ogwumike.