Former South Carolina basketball stars shine on first day of WNBA playoffs

The WNBA playoffs began on Sunday and several former South Carolina women’s basketball players performed outstandingly in their first postseason games.

Just hours after being named MVP for the third time, A’ja Wilson led her Las Vegas Aces to a come-from-behind victory over the Seattle Storm. She scored 21 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, dished out 2 assists and blocked 5 shots in a performance that dominated on defense for most of the game and included a hard-nosed 3rd quarter that set up the win. When in danger of losing early, Wilson blocked 4 shots in the 1st half, and when her team couldn’t get going on offense, she initiated the comeback herself, scoring 15 of her team’s 26 points in the 3rd quarter.

The Indiana Fever lost to the Connecticut Sun, but former Gamecock Aliyah Boston was her team’s best player. In her first career playoff game, Boston posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and added 3 assists and 2 blocks; only Lisa Leslie and Liz Cambage had gone 17-11-2 in their playoff debuts before Boston’s big game. Victaria Saxton, also a Fever forward, entered the game late and made her only shot attempt. Sun guard Ty Harris was injured in the game and was seen using a walker and crutches afterward. Sun guard Tiffany Mitchell missed the game due to illness.

Allisha Gray and Laeticia Amihere couldn’t lead their Atlanta Dream team to a win over the No. 1 seed New York Liberty, but the game was very competitive after a tough 1st quarter. As the team’s top defender, Gray scored 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, while reserve forward Amihere scored 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in just 10 minutes on the court.

In the final game of the opening night of the postseason, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan’s Phoenix Mercury team fell to the Minnesota Lynx. Herbert Harrigan barely played in the loss.