Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson made WNBA history on Wednesday night.
Wilson, early in their matchup against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, officially broke the league’s single-season scoring record. Wilson entered the night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis just 11 points shy of the record, and it didn’t take her long to get there.
Wilson, after the Aces fell into an early 7-0 hole, drilled four straight buckets from the top of the key to get them back in it in the first quarter. She then hit a pair of 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 entered the locker room with 12 points, which powered the Aces to a nine-point lead at the break.
With the bucket, Wilson passed Seattle Storm All-Star Jewel Lloyd for the most points ever scored in a single WNBA season. Lloyd set the record last season with 939 points in 38 games. Wilson passed Lloyd’s tally Wednesday night in her 35th game of the season. The Aces have four games remaining in the regular season after Wednesday’s game against the Fever.
A two-time MVP, Wilson is the overwhelming favorite to win her third MVP with the regular season approaching its conclusion. She entered Wednesday’s game averaging career highs with 27.3 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 52.7% from the field.
She’s 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 Sept. 7 that she suffered a season-ending wrist injury and will not add to her record tally of 446 rebounds. Wilson entered Wednesday’s game with 406 rebounds on the season.
The Aces entered Wednesday’s game at 22-13, 7.5 games behind the first-place Minnesota Lynx in the West in their quest for a third straight WNBA title.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.