Las Vegas Aces hand Seattle Storm blowout loss in WNBA playoff opener

The Storm return home needing a win to extend their best-of-three playoff series against the Las Vegas Aces after Sunday’s night’s 102-77 defeat pushed them to the brink of elimination.

Game 2 is 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena.

The first-round opener boiled down to this for Seattle: Too much A’ja Wilson.

The Aces star, who is a MVP front-runner and vying to become the first WNBA player to win the award four times, scored at will on an array of layups, midrange jumpers and three-pointers against a Storm front line that provided little resistance.

It didn’t matter if it was veteran center Ezi Magbegor, rookie post player Dominique Malonga or All-Star forward Nneka Ogwumike, Wilson exploited Seattle’s one-on-one defensive scheme for a game-high 29 points on 10-for-18 shooting from the field.

The red-hot Aces finished the regular season with 16 straight victories and win No. 17 seemed assured in the early minutes when Aces backup guard Jewell Loyd entered with 7:08 left in the first quarter.

The former Storm star quickly connected on three shots — a putback, midrange pullup jumper and three-pointer — for seven points and a 13-5 Vegas lead that prompted a Seattle timeout.

However, Las Vegas continued to roll and stretched its lead to 22-10 near the end of the period.

Early in the second quarter, Ogwumike sank a jumper and backup guard Erica Wheeler drained a three-pointer that pulled the Storm within 22-17 and constituted the only highlights for Seattle.

The Storm never got any closer and the Aces quickly regained control before taking a 45-25 lead into halftime.

Las Vegas’ lead swelled to 76-49 late in the third quarter and things never got any better for Seattle.

Down 83-54, frustrations appeared to boil over for the Storm early in the fourth quarter when Ogwumike shoved Loyd to the floor while attempting to post up beneath the rim.

After the play, the Storm forward dropped the ball on Loyd, which drew a technical foul and prompted Aces guard Chelsea Gray to confront Ogwumike, her former Los Angeles teammate.

Gabby Williams scored 16 points to lead five Storm players in double-digit scoring. Skylar Diggins and Malonga each had 12, Ogwumike 11 and Erica Wheeler 10.

Meanwhile, Jackie Young had 18 points, Loyd 14, Dana Evans 13 and NaLyssa Smith 11 for the Aces.