Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) takes the ball upcourt against the Dallas Wings during the second half of an WNBA basketball game at Michelob Ultra Arena in Mandalay Bay Sunday, July 7, 2024.
Sunday, July 14, 2024 | 3:52 p.m.
A’ja Wilson has had an impressive few days — on and off the basketball court.
The Las Vegas Aces star center on Thursday was selected as the Best Female Athlete at the ESPY Awards. She also on Thursday was picked to appear on the cover of the NBA 2K25 video game.
On Sunday, she was back to her dominating ways on the court, scoring 28 points and grabbing 17 rebounds to help the Aces overcome an early double-digit deficit for an 89-77 win at the Washington Mystics.
Wilson has recorded at least 28 points and 17 rebounds in the past three games. She’s tallied at least 28 points in five of the last six games. Fittingly, the Aces have won 11 of their last 13 contests.
“I’ve kind of run out of adjectives for her (Wilson),” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “She is gifted, anointed, chosen, however you want to put it. She has it. The biggest thing about A’ja that’s always impressed me is she’s always the same A’ja.”
“It doesn’t matter if she scores 10 points or 50 points, A’ja comes in the same every day. She’s just a very secure person in what her purpose is, the direction that she’s going and how she wants to walk her journey.”
The Aces trailed 31-20 after the first quarter, but outscored Washington by 23 points over the final three quarters. The domination is a testament to the Aces’ physicality, Wilson said.
“As time went down, we still trusted our defense a little bit more,” A’ja Wilson said. “ We got a little more physical and that changed the game.”
Las Vegas trailed by as many as 15 points before it started chipping away at the deficit — and it wasn’t only Wilson who excelled.
Kelsey Plum had another strong offensive showing, finishing with 22 points. Tiffany Hayes recorded 17 points off the bench to equal her season high.
“I’m just used to doing what a team needs me to do regardless of whether I’m starting or coming off the bench,” Hayes said. “It makes no difference whether it’s either or, I’m going to go out there and give 100%. Today I just felt good.”
The Mystics’ Ariel Atkins had a game-high 36 points to establish a career high.
“When you get somebody like (Atkins) on a heater, someone that’s that good on that side of the basketball, it’s very hard to kind of slow them down,” Wilson said of Atkins’ performance.
As a team, Las Vegas shot 48.6% (34-of-70) from the field and 32% (8-of-25) from 3-point range. The Aces won the battle on the boards, outrebounding the Mystics, 41-31. They also recorded 15 points off 12 Mystic turnovers.
Las Vegas improved to 16-7 and slid into third place in the league standings with Minnesota’s loss to the Indiana Fever.
The Aces have one game left before the Olympic break. They will host the Chicago Sky 7 p.m. Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena.