The Las Vegas Aces have punched their ticket to the WNBA playoffs for an eighth consecutive season, holding off the Washington Mystics 83-76 behind a huge scoring night from Jackie Young.

Young finished with a season-high 32 points, shooting 10 of 14 from the field and 5 of 8 from three-point range, while reigning MVP A'ja Wilson added 15 points, six rebounds and two blocks in the win, according to The Washington Post. The victory locks Las Vegas into the postseason for the eighth straight year, a run of sustained contention few WNBA franchises can match.

The Aces join the Minnesota Lynx as the only two teams to have officially clinched a 2026 playoff berth so far, according to Bleacher Report, with the rest of the league's playoff picture still shaking out as the regular season enters its final stretch.

Wilson Still the League's Best

Wilson's modest stat line by her standards Thursday belies the season she's having: she currently leads the WNBA in scoring at 25.9 points per game and blocks at 2.1 per game, while ranking third in rebounding at 9.7 boards a night. Her sustained dominance has anchored a Las Vegas roster that has weathered a competitive Western Conference to stay firmly in title contention. Thursday's win didn't come easily, either — Washington kept the score within single digits most of the night, testing the Aces' depth with the postseason field still crystallizing around them.

THE ACES BECOME JUST THE SECOND TEAM TO OFFICIALLY LOCK UP A 2026 PLAYOFF SPOT.

Elsewhere around the league Thursday night, the playoff race kept tightening. The New York Liberty held off a late charge from the Los Angeles Sparks to win 85-81 behind Sabrina Ionescu's 20 points — a win that came without All-Star forward Satou Sabally, who has stepped away from the team to continue managing concussion symptoms. The Atlanta Dream also routed the Connecticut Sun 104-69, with two players scoring 29 points apiece, according to game coverage from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

What's Next

With their spot secured, the Aces can now play out the remainder of the regular season focused on seeding rather than survival, aiming to lock up home-court advantage for as deep a playoff run as possible. The rest of the conference races remain unsettled, with several teams still jockeying for the final postseason spots as the calendar turns toward September.