Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson made WNBA history on Wednesday night.
Wilson, early in Vegas’ 86-75 win over Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, broke the league’s single-season scoring record. Wilson entered the night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis 11 points shy of the record, and it didn’t take her long to get there.
Wilson, after the Aces fell into a 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. She finished with 27 points while shooting 11-of-28 from the field and added 12 rebounds in the 11-point win. Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 24 points, and Clark finished with 16 points and six assists after shooting 1-of-10 from the 3-point line.
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 last season with 939 points in 38 games. Wilson passed Loyd’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 league MVP award. 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 sustained a season-ending wrist injury and will not add to her record tally of 446 rebounds. Wilson now has 418 rebounds on the season.
With their win, the Aces are 23-13. They’re seven games back from the first-place Minnesota Lynx and solidly in fourth in the league standings in their quest for a third straight WNBA title.
The Fever (19-18) already clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2016. They’re in sixth in the standings, and are likely too far back to overtake the fifth-place Storm before the end of the regular season.