Las Vegas Aces superstar and two-time MVP A’ja Wilson is the latest WNBA player to summit her name in the history books as she became the franchise’s all-time leading scorer in a blowout win against the Dallas Wings at home.
Wilson put up 28 points in the 104-85 W to bring her lofty Aces total to 4,301 points, taking her past Sophia Young-Malcolm’s previous record of 4,300. Wilson also had 10 rebounds to capture her 11th double-double of the season in the milestone game at the Michelob Ultra Arena.
Wilson, who was drafted by Las Vegas first overall in 2018 out of the University of South Carolina, where she played under another WNBA legend Dawn Staley, knocked down two free throws late in the fourth quarter to break the record.
“It means the world, it really does,” Wilson told the ESPN broadcast after the game. “It’s a special moment. I didn’t even know, honestly, until about the third quarter. Sydney [Colson] actually told me, she was like, ‘Come on, this is your chance, you don’t want to do it away, you want to do it at home.’ And I was like, ‘That is right.’
“So, I’m so grateful to have this moment, my teammates sharing it with me, this crowd sharing it with me. But the jobs not done. we still got a lot more we gotta learn and grow from, but I’m definitely gonna take in this moment.”
Young-Malcolm scored all of her points between 2006 and 2015, while the franchise was still operating under the San Antonio (Silver) Stars brand, before its 2017 move to ‘Sin City’. The team was one of the eight original WNBA teams that joined the league’s inaugural 1997 season and played in Salt Lake City as the Utah Starzz until 2002.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Aces brought back stars from the franchise’s history, including Young-Malcom, on to the court postgame to celebrate Wilson’s achievement.
“It’s all about growing the game,” said Wilson. “They laid the foundations down for us to be able to wear this uniform today. Even though it’s maybe a different color, a different city, they are the foundations so to do this in front of them, it truly is something special.”
Wilson is having another MVP-level season, averaging a league-leading 27 points per game and is in contention to win her third MVP award. She is also in prime position to complete a historic three-peat with Las Vegas, having won the WNBA championship in both 2022 and 2023.
The lopsided win moves the Aces to 13-7 on the season. Kelsey Plum scored 23 points to help power Vegas to the win, while fellow All-Stars Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray added 18 and 12 points, respectively.
Odyssey Sims dropped a season-high 25 points for the Wings, who fall to 5-17 and are tied for the worst record in the league with the Washington Mystics.
However, the 3-poing line was the ultimate decider in the contest. Dallas ended the game with a better field goal percentage than the Aces but were outshot six to 14 from three-point range.
