Talbot OUT but Las Vegas Aces into WNBA semi-finals

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WNBA Scores: Las Vegas Aces 94 def. Indiana Fever 83 (Final)

Australian forward Stephanie Talbot, 32, missed the deciding Game 3 of the first round with a leg injury, but the third-seeded Las Vegas Aces beat the sixth-seeded Indiana Fever 94-83 at Michelob ULTRA Arena on Friday (AEST) to win the series 2-1.

Talbot was listed as out with a leg injury before tip-off. The Australian Opals star had started all but one game this season, and Jewell Loyd took her spot in the starting five and scored 11 points.

A'ja Wilson scored 36 points on 11-from-18 shooting, made 12 of her 15 free throws and grabbed 10 rebounds. Chelsea Gray added 23 points and Jackie Young 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

The teams were level at 31-31 after the first quarter. Las Vegas led 54-48 at half-time and pushed out to 67-55 in the third quarter, before Indiana twice cut the margin to two points in the fourth. The Aces went 28-from-35 from the free-throw line to Indiana's 14-from-20.

Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 23 points, Aliyah Boston had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Caitlin Clark scored 18 on 6-from-18 shooting, with 11 of those points in the first quarter.

Talbot averaged 8.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in the first two games of the series: eight points in the Game 1 win and nine in the Game 2 loss.

Indiana had no Australian on its roster, so Talbot was the only Australian in the series.

Stephanie Talbot (LV): DNP, out (leg injury)

Las Vegas, who finished the regular season 31-13, play the winner of Golden State v Dallas in the semi-finals. That Game 3 is in San Francisco at 11:00am AEST on Saturday, October 3.