For the seventh season in a row, the Las Vegas Aces are headed to the WNBA semifinals.

A streak that began with the Hamby Heave in 2019 had another furious finish Thursday night. There were two ties and four lead changes in the final three minutes, and it took a Jackie Young putback with 12.4 seconds left — when the Storm had three bigs on the floor — for the Aces to escape with a 74-73 win and a trip to the next round.

JACKIE YOUNG PUTBACK FOR THE LEAD.

Aces get the stop on the other end to advance to the semi-finals!pic.twitter.com/uAjCD0aVuw

— Underdog WNBA (@UnderdogWNBA) September 19, 2025

The Storm put the ball in Erica Wheeler’s hands on the final play after the veteran guard spurred the Game 2 comeback and gave Seattle the lead on the previous possession. Her encore didn’t go through, however, and the Storm’s season ends in the first round for the second straight season, both defeats coming at the hands of Las Vegas.

The Aces advance to play the Indiana Fever, who also had a dramatic victory over Atlanta earlier Thursday.

Las Vegas ended the regular season on a 16-game winning streak, but needed all three games to beat Seattle in a hard-fought series in which the home team won all three games. The Aces will have homecourt advantage in the semifinal series, which tips off Sunday at 12 p.m. PT in Las Vegas.

“Everybody’s super excited about tonight, which I am too,” coach Becky Hammon said, “but I gotta get our hard hats on and get these guys prepped and ready for what’s coming next.”

Although Young had the game-winner, Las Vegas advanced because of the individual dominance of A’ja Wilson. Seattle elected to mostly defend her in single coverage and stay home on the Aces’ shooters, who combined to make only three 3-pointers. But that meant the reigning MVP erupted for 38 points on 14-of-26 shooting, to go along with three steals and two blocks.

“The play calling didn’t matter,” Hammon said. “A’ja Wilson just took over the game.”

Wilson missed her last two shot attempts of the day, but even with only one defender glued to her, the Storm couldn’t corral the most important offensive rebound of the game, which went to Young. Las Vegas had two second-chance points all night, and they couldn’t have been more perfectly timed.

(Photo of Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson celebrating during Thursday’s win: Candice Ward / Imagn Images)