‘A historic run’: Aces effusive after star’s record-setting night

By the time the buzzer sounded, A’ja Wilson had rewritten the history books.

Her 53-point performance in the Aces’ 112-100 win against the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday tied the WNBA single-game scoring record set by Liz Cambage with the Dallas Wings against the New York Liberty on July 17, 2018.

Wilson only wanted one thing following her herculean effort.

“Right now,” Wilson said during her postgame interview, “what’s going through my head is I just want to get in the shower.”

Wilson’s record-tying performance came just six games after she tied the Aces’ franchise record with 40 points against the Washington Mystics on Aug. 11. The reigning league MVP became just the third player in WNBA history to score 50 or more points in a game.

“I don’t want to game-plan against her,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said Tuesday. “That’s for sure.”

The Aces (29-4) continue their road trip at 5 p.m. Thursday against the Chicago Sky (13-20).

Wilson scored her 53 points on 16-of-23 shooting — 69.6 percent — made her only attempted 3 and missed just one of her 21 free-throw attempts. She also had seven rebounds and four blocks to finish plus-24 in 33 minutes.

Her 82.20 percent true shooting percentage — an advanced statistic that aims to measure a player’s shooting efficiency by accounting for all types of scoring, including free throws — was slightly below her season-high 83.49 percent achieved July 22 against the Minnesota Lynx, according to Across the Timeline.

Similarly, Wilson’s 0.91 free throw rate (the ratio of free throws versus field goals), her 1.55 points per possession (the measure of a player’s scoring efficiency) and her 9.61 block percentage (an estimation of the percentage of an opposing team’s two-point field goals a player blocked while she was on the floor) were all near her season-highs.

“What we’re seeing right now is historic,” Aces guard Kelsey Plum said Tuesday. “It’s a historic run, and it’s just beginning.”

Wilson’s 43.83 usage percentage, which estimates how many plays a player contributed to while on the floor, was a career high.

“It was more so my teammates being like, ‘Go, go go,’” Wilson said. “Throughout the whole game when they were trying to force it in I’m like, ‘No, get your shots. You’re open.’”

Despite her record-setting night, Wilson was effusive with her praise for her teammates, whom she credited for finding her in good spots.

Hammon and Plum, however, said it was just another example of Wilson’s grace, humility and simple desire to win, attributes that they said shape the foundation of the Aces’ championship roster.

“That’s a very rare trait to have,” Plum said. “It’s very easy to get arrogant and have your head blow up, but she’s just so consistent in who she is as a human being. You know what you’re going to get on and off the court.

“I feel like we have great culture because it starts with the franchise player.”

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on X.