It was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. Las Vegas Aces superstar and front runner to collect her third MVP, A’ja Wilson, made WNBA history on Wednesday night.
Wilson did not leave much suspense early in the Aces’ 86-75 win over Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, breaking the league’s single-season scoring record. Wilson came into the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis just 11 points shy of the record, and it did not take her long to get there.
“It feels great because now people will stop talking about it,” Wilson said about the record after the game. “Felt like it was just like lingering, lingering, lingering, so I’m glad that we got it done.
“I don’t want to sound cliché when I say this, but I don’t get any of that without every single teammate along the way. And I’m so grateful to be able to play with selfless women. They give it their all every single day, and they’re their pure selves, and that’s what I love the most,” she added, holding back tears. “My teammates, they’re the heartbeat, they keep me going.”
Wilson, after the Aces came out of the gate surprisingly lethargic and sluggish, falling into a 7-0 hole, swished four straight buckets from midrange to get them back in it in the first quarter. She then buried two free throws to tie the record before the end of the quarter. Then, just before halftime, Wilson hit another shot from near the free-throw line to get to 941 points on the season and set the new record.
Wilson’s teammate Alysha Clark appealed to the fans, even in a hostile environment, to appreciate Wilson for what she has managed to do on the hardwood.
Embed from Getty Images“One day she’s not going to be here. She’s going to retire and go on and live her life, and people are going to marvel at what she’s done. And I’m like, marvel at it now,” Clark said. “It’s impressive as hell. And what she does on a consistent basis, from day one of this season, there was no doubt who the best player in the world was.”
Wilson went to the locker room with 12 points, which lifted the Aces to a nine-point lead at the break. She finished with a solid double-double, with 27 points while shooting 11-of-28 from the field and added 12 boards in the 11-point victory. Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 24 points, and Clark finished with 16 points and six dimes after shooting a dismal 1-of-10 from beyond arc.
With the bucket, Wilson passed Seattle Storm All-Star Jewell Loyd for the most points scored in a single WNBA season. Loyd set the record in 2023 with 939 points in 38 games. Wilson surged passed Loyd’s mark Wednesday in her 35th game of the campaign. The Aces have a sparse four games remaining in the regular season after Wednesday’s matchup against the Fever.
A two-time MVP, Wilson is the unquestionable favorite to capture her third league MVP award. She came into Wednesday’s game averaging career highs with 27.3 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting a red-hot 52.7% from the field.
She is also on pace to break the WNBA’s single-season rebounding record set earlier this season by Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese. Reese announced on Saturday, September 7 that she suffered a season-ending wrist injury and will not be able to extend her record tally of 446 rebounds. Wilson, who now has 418 needs just 29 more to break the record.
With their win, the Aces moved to 23-13 on the season. They currently sit seven games back from the first-place Minnesota Lynx and solidly in fourth in the league standings on their mission for a third straight WNBA title.
The Fever (19-18) already secured a playoff berth for the first time since 2016. They are in sixth in the standings, and are likely too far back to overtake the fifth-place Storm before the end of the regular season.
