> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # ‘I Would Take That Shot Every Time’: Storm’s Wheeler Got Final Look She Wanted vs. Aces - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/i-would-take-that-shot-every-time-storms-wheeler-got-final-look-she-wanted-vs-aces/ - Published: 2025-09-19T22:11:16.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T05:58:10.000Z - Author: Connor Benintendi - Tags: Storm, Erica Wheeler, Nneka Ogwumike, Noelle Quinn \[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1129"\] ![ Erica Wheeler was the Seattle Storm’s most clutch player in 2025. With their season on the line against the Las Vegas Aces, her final shot just didn’t fall. Credit: John Mac ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/54550830809_b6a764f933_k-format-original-2.jpg) Erica Wheeler was the Seattle Storm’s most clutch player in 2025\. With their season on the line against the Las Vegas Aces, her final shot just didn’t fall. Credit: John Mac \[/caption\] The lead changed hands four times in the final 1:15 of the Seattle Storm’s season-ending Game 3 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Thursday. With the game on the line, Erica Wheeler tried to change it a fifth and final time with 4.4 seconds remaining, but it missed. In the wake of a gut-wrenching loss, Wheeler adamantly stood by her shot selection — a near-right elbow jumper that would’ve sent the Storm to the WNBA semifinals. “I would take that shot every time. Every time,” Wheeler said during her postgame press conference. “It just didn’t go in — it hit the back of the rim. But I’ll take that shot every time, and I own that. I would love for it to go in, but I’ll take that shot every time.” > The [@LVAces](https://twitter.com/LVAces?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) defeat the Seattle Storm, 74–73, and advance to the Semi-Finals of the 2025 WNBA Playoffs presented by [@Google](https://twitter.com/Google?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) 👏 > > A’ja Wilson – 38 PTS (ties playoff career-high) | 5 REB | 3 STL > Jackie Young – 14 PTS | 4 STL > > With the win, Becky Hammon passes Van Chancellor and John… [pic.twitter.com/IzPo6YpQT3](https://t.co/IzPo6YpQT3?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— WNBA (@WNBA) [September 19, 2025](https://twitter.com/WNBA/status/1968889412751655419?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) It’s hard to argue with Wheeler. Throughout the season, she was arguably Seattle’s most consistently clutch player. She knocked down a nearly identical shot to give the Storm a 73-72 lead 15 seconds earlier before Jackie Young gave the Aces the final bucket of the game. In Game 2, Wheeler scored 10 of the Storm’s final 18 points to kickstart their double-digit comeback. She drilled a game-winning pull-up jumper with 19.2 seconds remaining in Seattle’s final regular-season game against the Golden State Valkyries to clinch a playoff berth. There were countless other moments during the season where Wheeler stepped in to seal games for Seattle. The Storm needed a high-efficiency shot in crunch time, and Wheeler was their best option. She got exactly the shot she wanted. > ERICA WHEELER IN THE CLUTCH 😤 [pic.twitter.com/D9IswlwAae](https://t.co/D9IswlwAae?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)— ESPN (@espn) [September 19, 2025](https://twitter.com/espn/status/1968884610193903826?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) “We had two good open looks at the rim; that’s the part of basketball,” Wheeler added. “Sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some, and today’s one of those. It just didn’t go. That’s really it.” This season, Wheeler played the most regular-season minutes (1,126) of her entire 10-year career at 34 years old. Her 80 playoff minutes were also the most she’s played in her four trips to the postseason. To say Wheeler revived her career in 2025 would be an understatement. Wheeler’s 10.3 points per game average was her most since 2021 (13.6), and she nearly tied her career-high of 1.4 steals per game (1.3 this season). Wheeler lost her starting role with the Indiana Fever in 2024, starting just two games and playing 14 minutes per game. That was after nearly seven seasons of being a full-time starter. “\[Wheeler\] has had a career season,” Storm head coach Noelle Quinn said after the game. “She \[was\] almost forgotten about the past few seasons, in my opinion. When I spoke with \[Wheeler\] in the offseason, she wanted to have transparency and truth from her head coach, and I was committed to doing that the entire season. In return, I told her I wanted her to get back to the 2019 \[version of herself\], because she still has a lot of basketball left in her.” The role she played, however, was potentially the most critical of any Storm player. In addition to her consistently clutch play, Wheeler had to come out of the starting lineup and go back to the bench when Seattle acquired Brittney Sykes in early August. She remained her high-energy self that fueled the identity of the roster. That passion is what was expected out of Wheeler. “There were other teams that wanted her,” Nneka Ogwumike said. “She came here with less in her contract because she believed what we were assembling here. I think that she’s proven not just to the league, but I think to herself, that she’s a veteran to be respected.” Wheeler will once again be a free agent this offseason, as will most of the roster. If the current nucleus of the Storm is brought back into 2026, Wheeler is one of the players who could be brought back to ensure the locker room culture remains. It’s unlikely that a decision will be made anytime soon, however, as a CBA still needs to be negotiated between the league and the WNBPA. Wheeler, who will be 35 at the start of the 2026 season, would also have to have a desire to play another season.