Notre Dame's fingerprints are all over the WNBA's most turbulent playoff week — but not in the way Las Vegas Aces fans hoped.
Loyd Goes Down, Aces Go Under
Jewell Loyd's semifinal series against the Golden State Valkyries was already difficult before it became dire. The Aces guard exited Game 1 on October 4 with a left leg injury, finishing with just two rebounds, one assist, and a +2 in a 60-71 loss — a box score that tells only part of the story. The bigger blow came in the injury reports that followed: updates on Loyd's status were described as "discouraging" even as the team offered cautious optimism about other players.
She returned in Games 2 and 3, but at a shadow of her usual output. In the Aces' 77-87 Game 3 loss on October 10 — which ended their season — Loyd managed just 3 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist, posting a -12 plus/minus. Las Vegas dropped the series without mounting a serious threat to Golden State's suffocating depth. The Aces' title defense is over.
What made the Valkyries so hard to crack was precisely what their system is built for: relentlessness. Golden State's bench outworked Las Vegas at every turn, pulling down 17 offensive rebounds in Game 1 alone and finishing with a +27 rebounding margin. A hobbled Loyd against that kind of rotational pressure was never going to be a fair fight.
Turner Throws Punches Across the Aisle
While Loyd battled injury, fellow Irish alum Brianna Turner was fighting a different kind of war. After the Aces knocked out the Indiana Fever in the first round, Fever GM Amber Cox publicly defended Indiana's fanbase against criticism from players — and Turner, who spent years with the Fever before joining Las Vegas, was not having it.
Turner called Cox's statement "false" in a direct, public challenge that drew significant attention across the league. It wasn't an offhand comment: Turner specifically pushed back on Cox's characterization of fan behavior, siding with accounts from active Fever players who described real difficulties with a portion of the fanbase. The back-and-forth spilled into the week of the semifinals, adding an off-court storyline that followed Turner into every Aces game.
On the court, Turner's numbers were modest — 7 rebounds in Game 1, followed by quiet outings in Games 2 and 3 as Las Vegas struggled to stay competitive. But her voice off the court was anything but quiet.
What's Next for the Aces — and Jackie Young?
With the Aces eliminated, the offseason questions arrive fast. Jackie Young, another Notre Dame product on the Las Vegas roster, is headed for free agency after what CBS Sports described as a career year in 2026. Young and Chelsea Gray combined for a brutal 9-for-29 shooting night in Game 1, per Defector's game coverage — a sign of how thoroughly Golden State's depth disrupted Las Vegas's offensive engine.
Young's decision this offseason could reshape the Aces' roster for years. For a program that sent Loyd, Turner, and Young to the same team, Notre Dame's WNBA footprint remains enormous — even when the results, this October, were hard to watch.
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