Las Vegas Aces guard Tiffany Hayes (15) is fouled by the New York Liberty forward Nyara Sabally (8) in game 3 of the WNBA Playoffs at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

With grit and determination, the Las Vegas Aces (1-2) beat the New York Liberty (2-1) for the first time this year. This game was a win big or go home for Las Vegas trailing 0-2 and the Aces starters could not have picked a better time to turn things around.

Playing at home was a plus but it was the defense, the lack of turnovers and some brilliant offense that won this game. The first half was back and forth with 18 lead changes but the second half was a different story with the Aces totally dominating winning the game 95-81.

All four of the Vegas starters had double digits and A’ja Wilson had another double double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. The Aces were protecting the ball well Friday night with only six turnovers through three quarters.

Game recap: It was a wild first half of basketball with 18 lead changes the most in WNBA playoff history. The Aces led after the first ten minutes of play 26-23 in a close contest. Another back and forth quarter ensued with the both teams scoring 26 points in the second.

Las Vegas led at halftime 52-49 with the promise of two more crazy quarters before this game was all said and done. The Aces had contained Sabrina Ionescu who had not scored at all in the first half. The Liberty’s Jonquel Jones was in a bit of trouble with three fouls.

Mid-way through the third quarter, New York was forced to call a time-out when Las Vegas led 61-53. The Liberty missed 12 shots in a row in the quarter and Jones had her fourth foul. Las Vegas really got going in the quarter leading 66-53 with 2:51 left in the third quarter.

The Liberty were committing some uncharacteristic fouls and turnovers. The Aces had a 13-0 run going with 1:31 left in the quarter leading 73-53 and Las Vegas had taking control of the third.

They outscored the Liberty 21-6 in the quarter and New York had gone eight minutes without scoring. The Aces took a 73-55 lead into the fourth quarter. Ionescu had still not scored and with Jones in danger of fouling out, New York had a lot of work to do and it seemed unlikely that Las Vegas was slowing down in any way.

The Aces did not back off leading by 25 points at one point in the final quarter. The final was 95-81 Aces. With under three minutes left in the game the starters took the bench. Jackie Young had the team high with 24 points.

Kelsey Plum was on point with 20 points and A’ja Wilson finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds. The Las Vegas defense was lights out and kept the Liberty out of the paint. The Aces totally contained Sabrina Ionescu allowing only four points from the talented guard.

Game notes: Friday night, the Aces faced a win or go home situation as they beat the Liberty in game three and are now 1-2 with the win. It is a major long shot but if any team in the league is capable of not only winning Friday night but taking the series it is the Las Vegas Aces.

With unanimous MVP of the season A’Ja Wilson on board and a great supporting cast in Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young plus Tiffany Hayes off the bench who just won the WNBA 6th person of the year award this team will fight to the end.

It’s a lot of pressure and every one of these players brought their A game in this all-important daunting task. They got some solid defense and it all started with Jackie Young who is one of the strongest guards in the league.

Plum, Young and Gray are a great combo providing defense that were all clicking in game 3. The unfortunate truth is that all three were not clicking in games one and two. Of the three, Gray has struggled and has been strangely sloppy.

The Liberty have clogged the paint a favorite location of A’ja Wilson and the missed layups in games one and two had head coach Becky Hammon enraged on the sidelines. The bottom line is that Las Vegas met the Liberty five times this season and they lost all five games this was different on Friday they beat New York for the first time all season.

Sunday afternoon, the Aces will be looking for a win in game four and tying up this series. Sunday’s matchups gets underway at 2:30 ET. The Las Vegas Aces are not done yet.