Photo credit: L.E. Baskow (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

By Shawn McCullough

The Aces first playoff game since 2014 did not disappoint.

Down 92-90, Dearica Hamby hit a running 3-pointer from 35 feet with 4.8 seconds left to give the Aces the 93-92 win over the Chicago Sky in the second round of the WNBA Playoffs at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

With the Aces down by two and soon looking to foul, Hamby picked off a pass by guard Courtney Vandersloot at mid-count, took one dribble and drilled the 35 footer.  The Sky later inbounded the ball, but forward Astou Ndour missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“I honestly panicked,” said Hamby on the game winning shot. “I got the steal and I kind of knew that time was running down, but I honestly completely blanked out that there was five extra seconds on the clock.  It just went in.  The basketball gods are obviously on our side.”

“I’m glad Hamby executed the play I drew up,” head coach Bill Laimbeer said jokingly.  “It was like ‘oh, no, no, don’t do that and then WHAM…. Great shot!'”

Liz Cambage led the Aces with 23 points while A’ja Wilson added a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

“When Dearica made that shot, that was our x factor,” said Wilson. “I’m not surprised at all. Dearica pushed for this, she deserves this and that’s something I never really seen before and that’s crazy.”

With the win, the Aces advanced to the WNBA Semifinals to play a best of five game series against the number one seed Washington Mystics.

Las Vegas Aces – http://aces.wnba.com

Aces WNBA Semifinals Schedule:

Game 1 – Tuesday, September 17 – Aces at Mystics
Game 2 – Thursday, September 19 – Aces at Mystics
Game 3 – Sunday, September 22 – Mystics at Aces
Game 4 – Tuesday, September 24 – Mystics at Aces (if needed)
Game 5 – Thursday, September 26 – Aces at Mystics (if needed)

Game Notes:

• Kelsey Plum scored 15 points, including going 3 for 5 from 3-point range.
• Las Vegas out-rebounded Chicago 44-36.
• The Aces shot 45.1% from the field.
• There were 20 lead changes in the game.

Game Starters:

F – 22 A’ja Wilson
G – 21 Kayla McBride
C – 8 Liz Cambage
G – 0 Jackie Young
F – 1 Tamera Young