LAS VEGAS — Chelsea Gray had 33 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, and the Las Vegas Aces wrapped up the Commissioner’s Cup for the best regular-season record in the WNBA by defeating the Seattle Storm 109-100 in a regular-season finale Sunday.
Kelsey Plum, who had 23 points for the Aces, scored seven points in the final minute. Her 3-pointer with 58 seconds left put Las Vegas up by six, and she added two more field goals as the Aces (26-10) clinched the top seed in the playoffs.
Advertisement
The Aces defeated the Chicago Sky and the Storm in consecutive games to clinch the top playoff spot, having defeated the defending champion Sky 89-78 on Thursday. The Sky will be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.
The Storm already were assured of the No. 4 seed and will open the playoffs at home against the No. 5 Washington Mystics on Thursday.
Advertisement
The Aces’ opening-round opponent will be either the New York Liberty or Phoenix Mercury, pending the outcome of the Mercury-Sky game later Sunday.
Seattle’s Jewell Loyd scored a career-high 38 points that included 8 of 14 3-pointers. The Storm (22-14) made 18 3-pointers.
A’Ja Wilson had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Aces and Riquna Williams scored 11 points. Gray was 10-for-15 from the field and 11-for-11 from the free-throw line, where the Aces made 20 of 24 as a team. Seattle was 6-for-7 from the line.
Breanna Stewart had 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Storm and Gabby Williams added 11 points.
Briann January’s 3-pointer with about two minutes left in the third quarter put the Storm up by 10 before Las Vegas closed the quarter with a 12-0 run to lead 78-76 heading to the fourth.