Kelsey Plum, Riquna Williams lead Las Vegas Aces past Phoenix Mercury in WNBA semifinal series opener
Kelsey Plum led the Las Vegas Aces on a 12-4 run late in the third quarter Tuesday night leading to a 96-90 win over the Phoenix Mercury in Game 1 of their WNBA best-of-5 semifinal series.
Plum scored nine points in the run as the Aces turned a two-point lead into 10, 76-66 at the end of the third at Michelob Ultra Arena.
Plum scored 23 points against the Mercury in the regular season finale Sept. 19. The Aces have been off since then because of byes in the playoff first and second rounds.
The Mercury drew within three (78-75) on a Skylar Diggins-Smith 3-pointer at 6:35. Plum answered with a trey, and the Aces led 83-77 at a 5:28 timeout.
After a Brittney Griner layup, the Aces' A'ja Wilson scored three consecutive baskets for a 91-81 lead at 3:08.
The Mercury closed within six on a Griner follow before Plum scored again at 1:20 for 94-86.
The Mercury made one final charge with baskets by Taurasi and Griner but Kia Nurse missed a 3-point try at 9.9 seconds.
All five Mercury starters scored in double figures for a second straight game led by Griner with 24 and Taurasi 20.
Plum and Riquna Williams led the Aces with 25 and 24 points.
Earlier Tuesday, Griner was runner-up in the WNBA Most Valuable Player voting behind Connecticut's Jonquel Jones. Wilson was the 2020 WNBA MVP.
Plum scored 23 points against the Mercury in the regular season finale Sept. 19. The Aces have been off since then because of byes in the playoff first and second rounds.
The Mercury have not won the opening game of a semifinal series since 2014. They won elimination games over New York and Seattle in the first and second rounds to advance to the semifinal series vs. Las Vegas.
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Riquna Williams with 14 points in first quarter for Aces
The Mercury led all of the first quarter (30-21 at the end) and for the first four minutes of the second before the Aces took their initial lead.
The Aces went up by as many as five points several times and led by three at halftime, 52-49.
Williams had 17 first half points, 14 in the opening quarter, for Las Vegas then guard Chelsea Gray did the most damage in the second when the Aces had a 31-19 advantage. Gray had 11 points at halftime.
Griner and Taurasi had 10 and nine for the Mercury.
Taurasi started for a second straight game after being listed as questionable to play Monday. She hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter.
The Mercury had all 11 players available for just the third time all season.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: WNBA playoffs: Las Vegas Aces beat Phoenix Mercury in semifinal Game 1
