The Las Vegas Aces and Connecticut Sun head home with two very different feelings after the opening two games of their playoff semifinals series.

The Aces are trying to save their season against New York while the Sun hope to close out the Minnesota Lynx.

Two-time defending champion Las Vegas trails New York 2-0 in the best-of-five series. The Sun split the first two games in Minnesota. Both series resume today.

The Aces aren’t panicking, despite needing to pull off a historic comeback to advance to the Finals for the third straight year.

“At the end of the day, we have neither lost nor won a championship. Nothing has been won tonight,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said. “Do we have an uphill battle? Absolutely we do. All New York did was do what New York should do — defend their home court. It’s a series, we intend on pushing it five games. We got to take it quarter by quarter. Be solid on the defensive end.”

No team has ever come back from an 0-2 deficit in a best-of-5 WNBA playoff series.

“Being up 2-0 is great, but we haven’t won anything,” said Sabrina Ionescu, the former Miramonte High star who scored 24 points in the 88-84 win. “Everyone knows that. Did what we were supposed to do, protect home court. Win two at home. We’re not patting ourselves on the back, talking how happy we are. We didn’t come to win two games at home and be satisfied, we’re a hungry group.”

CLARK WINS ROOKIE HONORS >> Caitlin Clark has been named the WNBA Rookie of the Year in a near-unanimous vote, giving the Indiana Fever back-to-back winners after Aliyah Boston won the honor last season.

A national panel of sportswriters and sportscasters gave Clark 66 of 67 votes in balloting released Thursday. Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese received the other.

“I am incredibly honored to be named Rookie of the Year, but more than that, I am grateful to everyone that supported me throughout this past season,” Clark said in a statement. “I am so proud of what we accomplished and so excited for what the future holds.”

Clark, the No. 1 overall pick from Iowa, averaged 19.2 points and a league-best 8.4 assists per game while helping the WNBA set attendance records and garner mainstream attention. She struggled a bit early in the season, but found her groove and was an All-Star starter. The unanimous AP Rookie of the Year led the Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and a 20-20 record after a 1-8 start.

“I’m a tough grader. I feel like I had a solid year,” Clark said after the Fever were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. “For me, the fun part is like I feel like I’m just scratching the surface and I’m the one that’s nit picking every single thing I do. I know I want to help this franchise. ... I know there’s a lot of room for me to continue to improve so that’s what excites me the most. I feel like I continue to get a lot better.”

Golf

storm damages MASTERS course >> Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley said Thursday he was confident the Masters would be held as scheduled in April as the club directs its attention and resources to helping the area recover from devastating damage from Hurricane Helene.

Ridley was a few days late arriving in Japan for the Asia-Pacific Amateur. He said the home of the Masters sustained “a lot of damage,” just like the rest of the Georgia city on the border with South Carolina. The tournament is scheduled for April 10-13, and the club has resources that allow for rebuilding and even creating new structures in short time.

Soccer

Quakes 3, Dallas 2 >> Rookie Hernán López scored a goal in each half and the San Jose Earthquakes eliminated FC Dallas (10-15-7) from playoff contention Wednesday night.

San Jose (6-23-3) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute when López used assists from Cristian Espinoza and rookie defender Bruno Wilson to score. He gave them the lead for good with hix sixth goal of the season on an assist from Amahl Pellegrino in the 79th minute.

“I was happy to score tonight,” López said via an interpreter in the postgame media conference. “Obviously the season hasn’t gone our way, but being able to finish the season strong, we’re happy to see that and I’m thrilled with the victory.”

The Earthquakes will host Real Salt Lake on Saturday night for their home finale.