The Indiana Fever refused to let their season end Sunday, delivering a 90-83 victory over the second-seeded Las Vegas Aces at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to force a decisive Game 5 in their WNBA semifinal series.

All-Star center-forward Aliyah Boston posted the best postseason performance of her career with 24 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks, while Kelsey Mitchell added 25 points in the must-win game. The sixth-seeded Fever, who rallied from consecutive losses to even the series at 2-2, will face the Aces Tuesday night at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas at 9:30 p.m. ET.

For Cleone Boston, watching her daughter rise to the occasion has been nothing short of surreal. “This story is being written by God,” Cleone Boston said in an exclusive interview following the game. “Nobody expected them. Who would’ve even prepared to play against the Fever?”

She referenced the biblical story of Gideon’s 300, where a vastly outnumbered army achieved victory through faith and belief. It’s a theme that has resonated throughout the Fever locker room and extends far beyond the basketball court, according to Aliyah’s mother.

“When you believe, it doesn’t matter who else doesn’t believe,” she said. “And that goes beyond sports.”

Before the game, Boston’s father Algernon Boston sent a text to his daughter with simple instructions: “Leave it all out on the floor.” She delivered exactly that, playing with aggression and poise while anchoring both ends of the court.

For Cleone Boston, watching her daughter’s growth has been as rewarding as the victories themselves. The journey from a nine-year-old playing with boys on the Zero Tolerance team on St. Thomas to a WNBA All-Star has exceeded even their most optimistic projections.

“All we were looking for was a scholarship,” she said, recalling when she and her husband sent Aliyah and her sister Alexis to a three-week basketball camp in Milton, Massachusetts, when they were 10 and 12 years old. “We told them at ages nine and 11 that they weren’t paying for college. That was as far as we’d thought about it.”

But as Aliyah’s talent became undeniable, the vision expanded. Once she reached college at South Carolina, where she won an NCAA championship among several other national accolades, the WNBA dream crystallized. She decided she wanted to be the best and set her sights on being the number one draft pick, a goal she achieved in 2023.

This postseason has accelerated her development as a leader. Cleone Boston has noticed her daughter’s increased maturity in handling the mental challenges that come with playoff basketball.

“She analyzes everything,” Cleone Boston said. “She’s taking it in stride a lot more this year than before. She’s getting better at compartmentalizing.”

No matter how dominant a performance, Boston still spends her free moments post-game dissecting missed opportunities. But this year, she’s learning to process and move forward.

“She’s staying very levelheaded, very motivated. She’s learning to leave things when it’s time to leave them,” Cleone Boston said of her daughter, who opted to film a podcast episode the night before Game 5 instead of rewatching film.

Boston’s mindset heading into the series-deciding game reflects the same confidence that carried the Fever through Sunday’s elimination game. “I know nobody expects us to be here,” Aliyah said, “But now that we’re here, we need to just win!”

Taking Game 1 of the series gave Indiana the cushion of knowing they had multiple chances. When they dropped Games 2 and 3, facing elimination on their home court, they responded with their best performance of the series.

“It’s very motivating and encouraging to watch,” Cleone Boston said. “They don’t give up, no matter what people say. They’re choosing to believe that anything is possible despite what it looks like.”

The support from back home on St. Thomas has been overwhelming. Cleone Boston checks her phone after games to find 40-plus text messages from friends on island watching one of their own compete on a national stage.

“For anybody back home watching, I hope they’re encouraging their children to watch,” she said. “Make sure they see that coming from a 32-square-mile island doesn’t limit you. You win or lose in your mind before any place else.”

Tune in on ESPN2 to find out whether Aliyah Boston and the Fever will advance to the WNBA Finals.

Police arrested 37-year-old Jeuris Zabala-Ramirez early Monday on St. Croix in connection with a stabbing that left a man hospitalized with serious injuries, the Virgin Islands Police Department reported.
At about 2:48 a.m., officers were dispatched to the Juan F. Luis Hospital emergency room after a man arrived in a private vehicle with a stab wound to his arm. The victim was admitted for treatment, police said.
Detectives from the Criminal Investigation Bureau identified Zabala-Ramirez as the suspect. He was arrested at his home, advised of his rights and admitted to assaulting the victim, the police report said.
Zabala-Ramirez faces charges of first-degree assault, third-degree assault and use of a dangerous weapon during a crime of violence. He was booked and held on $100,000 bail. Unable to post bond, he was remanded to the John A. Bell Golden Grove Adult Correctional Facility pending his advice of rights hearing, the report said.