The Seattle Storm overcame a 14-point deficit to defeat the Las Vegas Aces 86-83 on Tuesday, Sept. 16, forcing Game 3 in 2025 WNBA playoffs action. Meanwhile, two Indiana Fever fans were escorted from their courtside seats during their team’s 77-60 victory over the Atlanta Dream. These dramatic developments highlight the intensity and unpredictability that defines postseason basketball at its finest.
The quarterfinal matchups delivered everything fans expected and more. Skylar Diggins led the Storm with 26 points while teammate Nneka Ogwumike added 24 in their stunning comeback victory. The Fever showed their now-patented resiliency despite being down five players, including All-Star guard Caitlin Clark, to season-ending injuries throughout the regular season.
Storm’s Historic Comeback Shakes Up Championship Race
Seattle Storm executed the second-largest playoff comeback in franchise history, turning what looked like another first-round playoff sweep into a must-watch Game 3. The team had been eliminated by the Aces in two of the past four seasons, making Tuesday night’s victory at Climate Pledge Arena even sweeter for the great home crowd that helped fuel the dramatic turnaround.
The Storm saw a lot of close games that didn’t go their way during a really tough August, but coach Stephanie White believes that adversity was actually training a muscle they need for the postseason. “We’ve been in crunch time, and we were able to turn it around,” Ogwumike said after the game. The veteran duo of Diggins and Ogwumike combined for 50 of the team’s 86 points, going 8-of-11 from beyond the arc after being held to just 23 points in their Game 1 blowout loss.
Teenager Makes WNBA History in Pivotal Victory
Dominique Malonga, the 19-years-old center who looked like a veteran on Tuesday night, recorded her second consecutive double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the Storm’s Game 2 victory. The youngest player in the entire postseason becomes the first teenager in league history to score a go-ahead basket or game-winner in the final minute of a playoff game, hitting the crucial and-1 to give Seattle the lead with 31 seconds remaining.
Malonga also had the impossible task of guarding Aces center A’ja Wilson, the three-time MVP, and held her scoreless in the final seven minutes of the game. No shot was bigger than Diggins’ pull-up jumper with 4.7 seconds remaining to secure the 86-83 lead and force a decisive Game 3 on Thursday, Sept. 18 in Las Vegas at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Fever’s Resilient Run Despite Fan Controversy
The Indiana Fever put themselves in position to win with a wire-to-wire victory over the Dream at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, but the celebration was marred when two spectators took things too far. The pair of Fever fans were escorted from their courtside seats in the fourth quarter after appearing to say something to Dream guard Allisha Gray with 6:10 remaining and the team trailing 71-47.
Gray alerted arena security of the fan’s behavior and looked visibly upset after the exchange, though it’s not clear what was said and she wasn’t available for postgame interviews. The incident happened during what should have been a purely electric atmosphere, as Kelsey Mitchell scored a game-high 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 from 3-point range. The veteran guard was extremely grateful to sit the entire fourth quarter after the Fever built such a large lead.
Fever Defense Stifles Dream’s Championship Hopes
Indiana’s defense had been the key to their success throughout the regular season, and they showed why in their win-or-go-home matchup. The Dream had been one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the league at 31.8% made during the regular season, but the Fever held them to just 1 of 10 from beyond the arc in the first half. Rhyne Howard, who led the WNBA in 3-pointers during the regular season with 3.1 per game, went 0-for-4 from three on Tuesday night.
“This is a group whose confidence never wavered,” coach Stephanie White said. “We’ve been in every kind of situation you can imagine and we have been able to put ourselves in position to win.” Aliyah Boston contributed 15 points while Natasha Howard added 12, with all three players scoring in double figures. The Dream finished just 5 of 19 (26%) from 3-point range and shot 37.9% from the field as a team, marking back-to-back playoff games shooting under 40%.
Aces’ Dominance Streak Comes to Stunning End
The Las Vegas Aces might not care about their franchise-best win streak – “You guys celebrate this streak more than we do,” A’ja Wilson said Sunday – but they were just one away from tying the longest win streak in WNBA history set by the 2001 Los Angeles Sparks at 18 games. That’s not the only streak the Storm snapped on Tuesday night with their victory at home.
Entering Tuesday, Las Vegas was 7-0 in first-round playoff games since coach Becky Hammon took over in 2022. The Aces had been lights out from the 3-point line heading into Tuesday, shooting 50.7% from the field and 14-of-29 from three in Game 1 after setting a regular-season record with 22 3-pointers in their regular-season finale on Sept. 11. But the 3 ball wasn’t falling, as they managed just 7-of-19 from the 3-point line. “It was trash garbage at the 3-point line,” coach Hammon said after the game.
Wednesday’s Quarterfinal Matchups Set Championship Stage
Wednesday will feature a pair of crucial quarterfinal matchups that could determine the championship landscape. The Phoenix Mercury face a must-win situation against the reigning champion New York Liberty at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, while the Golden State Valkyries play host to the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Lynx will advance to the semifinals with a victory, making it one of the most anticipated matchups of the entire postseason.
The Dream guards Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray were one win away from punching their ticket to the semifinals for the first time since 2018. After combining for 40 points in Game 1, the dynamic duo managed just 19 combined points on Tuesday, collectively shooting 7-of-25 from the field and 1-of-8 from beyond the arc. They’ll head back to Atlanta for the decisive Game 3 on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, where both teams will put everything on the line for a spot in the next round.
Historical Context Adds Drama to Playoff Push
The second night of the 2025 WNBA playoffs highlighted both the winners who rose to the occasion and the losers who couldn’t handle the pressure. Mitchell has started every game this season and averaged 31.4 minutes during the regular season as the Fever navigated a series of season-ending injuries to key players. The veteran guard turned in another gem when her team’s season was on the line, putting herself in an entirely different position than many expected.
Seattle’s playoff victory marks their first since 2022, ending a drought that had frustrated fans and players alike. The team executed their game plan perfectly, staying resilient despite trailing by double digits for most of the first three quarters. Meanwhile, Te-Hina Paopao managed three 3-pointers during garbage minutes for the Dream, but it wasn’t enough to overcome their overall struggles from the free throw line at just 50%.