The queen of the court tightened her grasp and all but locked up the 2024 WNBA MVP award. A’ja Wilson was a woman on a mission on Sunday and no one could contain her as the Las Vegas Aces blew out the Phoenix Mercury 97-79.
The Aces star had video game-like numbers, dropping 41 points and cleaned the glass with 17 boards. By most people’s standards, she had a great game in the first 20 minutes, registering a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds in the first half, never taking her foot off the gas and continued to light up the Mercury in the second half.
After the dominant performance, fans rose to their feet giving her a standing ovation and praised her for another impressive stat line.
Wilson has been on a tear all season long, only taking a break to win a gold medal in France. She has raised her level of play even more over her last few games as she totaled 42, 26 and 41 points, respectively. Wilson has been in a zone, where the basket has looked as big as the Pacific Ocean, scoring 30 or more points in 10 games this season. She also made history on Sunday, passing Tina Charles of the Atlanta Dream for the most games with 30-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in a single season with seven.
Wilson’s performance also put her in an exclusive category, making her the only player besides Candace Parker to record 40 points and 15 rebounds in a game.
Brittney Griner led Phoenix (16-17) with 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Sophie Cunningham knocked down 4-of-6 from 3-point range and finished with 16 points, and Kahleah Copper scored 15.
Kelsey Plum finished with 16 points and five dimes and Tiffany Hayes scored 11 points for the Aces (20-12), who have won back-to-back games for the first time since winning four in a row from July 7-14.
The Mercury started off cold and could not hit the broad side of the barn, missing their first six shot attempts and committed three turnovers as Las Vegas raced out to an 11-2 lead when Young hit a 3-pointer with 5:25 left in the first quarter. Griner made back-to-back baskets in the paint around a 3-pointer by Plum before Wilson asserted herself and scored six consecutive points to make it a 14-point game, 20-6, with three minutes to go and the Aces had a comfortable double figure lead the rest of the way.
The Mercury were uncharacteristically careless with the ball and committed six turnovers, shot just 4 of 15 from the field and was outscored 15-10 in the first quarter by Wilson alone as the Aces took a 19-point lead into the second period.
Wilson’s play this season has made her an overwhelming favorite to win her third MVP award, averaging 27 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 1.9 steals per game. It also would not be a shocker to anyone that follows the WNBA to see her win another Defensive Player of the Year award.
If she can continue stacking performances together like Sunday’s, she can make her case for MVP even stronger.
