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Michael Voepel, ESPN Senior Writer
LAS VEGAS — On the day she was announced as unanimous WNBA MVP, Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson had a first half to forget: just four points on 1-of-8 shooting.
But of course, there was a second half for her to flourish in, and there was also a big lift off the bench from guard Tiffany Hayes. The Aces benefitted from both Sunday to beat the Seattle Storm 78-67 in Game 1 of their best-of-three first-round playoff series.
“The basketball gods have a funny way of showing me that sometimes you’ve just got to get out of the mud,” Wilson said of shaking off the poor start to finish with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks. “I love doing that, because it keeps my mind going. My teammates continue to never let me doubt myself. And I sometimes do … and they always pick me up.
“In the second half, the game kind of settled down for me and I really started to dissect the defense. That was kind of when I got rocking and rolling.”
Earlier Sunday, Wilson spoke of being moved to tears watching a video tribute to her from the other players who previously won the league’s MVP award three times: Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and Lauren Jackson, all Naismith Hall of Famers. Then WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert was on hand at Michelob Ultra Arena to present Wilson, 28, with her third MVP trophy.
Wilson was third in a very tight MVP race last season, and the fact that one voter gave her a fourth-place vote took on almost epic proportions. Wilson said she wanted to make sure she left no room for doubt this season. And she didn’t, finishing with the highest scoring average in WNBA history (26.9 PPG) and becoming the first player to top 1,000 points in a season.
Seattle, playing without forward/center Ezi Magbegor (concussion), was still able to slow down Wilson early. The Aces were 2-of-18 from the field and trailed 18-9 after the first quarter. Then Hayes came alive for Las Vegas.
Wilson didn’t attempt a field goal in the second quarter, the first quarter this season in which that’s happened. But Hayes had 12 points in the second period and finished with 20 on 8-of-12 shooting.
It was a special game for Hayes. Her mother, Dorothy “Jenny” Hayes, came in from Florida on the first airplane flight she had ever taken. When Hayes played for UConn from 2008-12, her mother lived in Connecticut to be close. Hayes spent her first 10 WNBA seasons with Atlanta, and Jenny, whose job as a FedEx driver allowed her to move with her daughter, lived in Georgia then.
Jenny, who acknowledges a fear of flying, vowed to come to Las Vegas for her daughter’s birthday and the playoffs.
“I want to shout out my mom,” said Hayes, who turned 35 on Friday. “She was my coach all throughout growing up. She had never flown before, and she flew out here. I’m glad she was able to come.”
Hayes played for the Connecticut Sun last season, then opted to retire. But in May, the Aces signed her to return to the league. A starter for most of her career, Hayes has come off the bench in all but five games this year and is a candidate for Sixth Player of the Year.
The Aces are two-time defending WNBA champions. But Hayes — part of two NCAA championship teams at UConn — has not won a title in the WNBA. She’s hoping to get that with the Aces, who host Game 2 on Tuesday (ESPN, 9:30 p.m. ET).
“She gets us going, her energy is there always,” Wilson said of Hayes. “That’s our game-changer. She’s really one of our X factors.”
Wilson, of course, is the biggest X factor of all. Even when she was struggling offensively Sunday, her defense was good. Then in the third quarter, Wilson had 15 points, the most of any quarter during the playoffs in her career. In the fourth quarter, Wilson helped hold the Storm to just 2 points.
“The MVP MVP’ed,” Seattle coach Noelle Quinn said. “She’s MVP for a reason.”
