Mitchell, Boston help Fever stay alive with rout of Dream in Game 2

By Canadian Press on September 16, 2025.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kelsey Mitchell scored 19 points and made four 3-pointers while Aliyah Boston added 15 points to lead the Indiana Fever past third-seeded Atlanta Dream 77-60 on Tuesday night to extend their best-of-three series.

Game 3 will be Thursday in Atlanta, which hasn’t won a playoff series since 2016. Indiana’s last series win came in 2015.

Natasha Howard added 12 points and five rebounds. Mitchell also had four assists and Boston finished with five rebounds and three assists.

Te-Hina Paopao scored 11 points off the bench to lead the Dream, and Rhyne Howard added 10. The Dream fell 25 points short of their regular-season per game average. Allisha Gray added nine points and seven rebounds despite playing through foul trouble and clashing briefly with two fans in the front row midway through the fourth quarter. Both fans were escorted out of the arena by security.

STORM 86, ACES 83

SEATTLE (AP) — Skylar Diggins scored 26 points, including a jumper in the lane with 4.2 seconds left, Nneka Ogwumike had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and the Seattle Storm forced a deciding Game 3 with an 86-83 victory over the Las Vegas Aces on Tuesday night.

Seattle won its first playoff game since 2022. The Storm will play at Las Vegas on Thursday for a spot in the WNBA semifinals.

The Storm trailed 79-70 before closing on a 16-4 run.

Dominique Malonga was fouled while making a layup in transition with 31 seconds left and she made the free throw to give Seattle its first lead, 84-83, since it was 37-36. Chelsea Gray had a turnover at the other end trying to find Jackie Young in the lane.

Ogwumike took an inbounds pass with 27.7 seconds left and held the ball near midcourt until giving it to Diggins with about 14 to go. Diggins drove into the lane and sank a shot near the free-throw line for a three-point lead.

Malonga finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Erica Wheeler also scored 11 for Seattle.

Young led Las Vegas with 25 points. A’ja Wilson had 21 points and 13 rebounds for her 22nd playoff double-double.

The Associated Press