Central Valley grad Lexie Hull’s late steal sends Fever into WNBA semifinals

Winning players tend to have a knack for making winning plays. And not many have won more on multiple levels than Lexie Hull.

Add another milestone win to Hull’s resume that includes state and national championships at Central Valley High and Stanford, respectively. 

Hull stole an inbounds pass late in the fourth quarter to all but secure the Indiana Fever’s first-round upset of the Atlanta Dream by score of 87-85 on Thursday at Gateway Center in College Park, Georgia.

The sixth-seeded Fever (24-20) won the series 2-1 over the third-seeded Dream (30-14). It’s their first playoff series win since 2015.

Hull had 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 32 minutes, making 3 of 7 attempts from the field. She made a layup with 43 seconds left to pull the Fever within a point and Aliyah Boston scored the go-ahead with 7.4 seconds left.

The Dream took a timeout trying to get the ball in before Hull stole the ball, draining the clock to 1.2 seconds and all but clinching the win.

The Fever advanced to play the winner between the Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals, who escaped with a 74-73 win over the Seattle Storm Thursday.