LAS VEGAS  – A’Ja Wilson and Liz Cambage combined for 17 of 18 Las Vegas points in overtime Saturday as the Aces won a 102-97 slugfest over the Indiana Fever. Wilson finished with 39 points overall and a game-high 11 rebounds, and Cambage added 16 as the Aces withstood 13 second-half lead changes and 13 Indiana 3-pointers.

HIGHLIGHTS

BOX SCORE

Wilson’s career-high scoring represented the most points scored against the Fever since Cappie Pondexter’s opponent-record 40 in 2010. It was the first overtime game of the season for both teams and Las Vegas’ first since a 101-92 Aces OT win against the Fever in Indianapolis last season.

Las Vegas (7-5) took advantage of a 50-32 rebounding edge and 32 free throw attempts while recording its third straight home win and its third win in four games. The Fever (5-9) sustained their fourth straight defeat while managing just six free throws in nine attempts. The Aces finished 26 of 32 at the charity stripe with Wilson the beneficiary of 14 attempts, 11 made.

In overtime, the lead changed hands three times and was tied twice before Cambage put the Aces on top for good, 95-94, with 1:04 to play. Her next bucket pushed the lead to three and a pair of free throws from Wilson gave Las Vegas a 99-94 advantage. Indiana free throws from Mitchell and Dupree pulled Indiana within 99-97, but the Fever never got closer.

In the fourth, Wilson pushed the Aces lead to six, but Mitchell’s 3-pointer and a bucket from McCowan pulled Indiana within 78-77. Wilson and Dupree traded baskets to keep the Aces ahead by one and Indiana briefly regained the lead, 81-80 with 1:36 to play, on Natalie Achonwa’s crafty putback of a Dupree 3-point miss to beat the shot clock.

Dearica Hamby’s layup gave the Aces the advantage again with 1:19 to play and Wilson’s driving layup lifted Las Vegas to an 84-81 lead with 34 seconds remaining. Wheeler’s baseline 3-pointer with 17.2 seconds remaining tied the score at 84 and sent the game to overtime with the 10th lead change or tie in the fourth period.

Just as in the first half, Indiana led the entire third period, but Tamera Young’s putback bucket with 33 seconds left in the frame staked the Aces to a 63-61 lead heading to the fourth quarter. The Fever broke a 45-all deadlock at intermission and led by as many as six on several occasions, but a 6-0 Aces spurt knotted the score at 59 on a pair of free throws from former Indiana high school star Jackie Young. The former Notre Dame star and the WNBA’s top draft pick last April, Young finished with eight points and a game-high 10 assists.

From the point of Tamera Young’s putback and through the first four minutes of the final period, the lead changed hands on seven consecutive scores to set the stage for the dramatic ending.

“We showed some character today,” said Indiana’s Erica Wheeler whose team-high eight assists contributed to a franchise-record 30 by the Fever overall. Indiana generated 30 assists on 39 made field goals. “We lost a hell of a game. It was a mental game for us. We flew in this morning, got some sleep and played a tough game tonight. We needed to grind. We need to take this effort and keep this intensity.”

“We put them at the line 32 times and we went nine. That’s tough,” said Fever coach Pokey Chatman, whose team completed its second West Coast game in 24 hours. “I thought we did a good job moving the ball around. A lot of people touched the ball and we got good movement all night. When we come with this intensity, and this production offensively and defensively, we’re going to win some games.”

Indiana’s ball movement and record assists helped lead to the club’s 13-of-24 3-point barrage – a far cry from a 2-of-18 performance in Phoenix on Friday.

The Fever got 21 points from Kelsey Mitchell, 20 from Candice Dupree and 19 from Wheeler. Mitchell, Wheeler and Betnijah Laney combined for 12 3-point baskets. Rookie Teaira McCowan contributed 14 points and eight rebounds. Natalie Achonwa had nine rebounds off the bench.

Wheeler (1,130) and Dupree (1,124) both passed Tully Bevilaqua on the Fever’s career scoring list to rank 9th and 10th, respectively, among franchise scoring leaders.

Beginning just her second pro season, Mitchell moved into 10th place in club history for career 3-pointers. Laney finished with nine points including multiple 3-pointers for the first time in her career. Her three 3-pointers matched her career total prior to 2019.

Indiana led virtually the entire first half, but for a 90-second sequence in which the lead changed hands four times. The Fever shot 6 of 11 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes and got scoring from eight different players. The Fever led by as many as eight, 20-12 on a jumper from Tiffany Mitchell, but a 22-point first half from Wilson, her former South Carolina teammate, helped the Aces keep pace.

Wilson, the WNBA’s rookie of the year in 2018, shot 7 of 9 overall and 8 of 10 at the foul stripe in the first half, alone. She finished 14 of 20 from the floor.

After 11 games in 23 days to end the month of June, Indiana next takes the court Friday at Dallas, ending a stretch with six of seven games on the road.