A’ja Wilson scored 34 points to become the fastest player to reach 6,000 in WNBA history and also had 12 rebounds, nine assists and three blocked shots to lead the Las Vegas Aces to a 101-91 victory over the visiting Seattle Storm on Monday night.
Wilson reached the mark in her 278th regular-season game, bettering the likes of Diana Taurasi (291) and Breanna Stewart (293). Her career total now stands at 6,004.
Jackie Young made four 3-pointers while producing 29 points and six assists as the Aces (8-3, 3-0 Commissioner’s Cup) won their fourth straight game.
Las Vegas, the Minnesota Lynx (3-0) and Dallas Wings (2-0) are all unbeaten on the Western Conference side of the league’s in-season tournament.
NaLyssa Smith added 16 points and nine rebounds and Chelsea Gray had 12 points and eight assists for the Aces, who shot 50% from the field and made 10 of 28 3-point attempts.
Dominique Malonga scored 19 points and Natisha Hiedeman had 17 points for Seattle (3-10, 0-4 CC), which lost its sixth straight game. The Storm and Portland Fire (0-3) are the West’s lone winless squads in the Commissioner’s Cup.
Awa Fam added 16 points for Seattle and Flau’jae Johnson had 13 points and seven assists for the Storm, which shot 44.6% from the field, including 12 of 27 from behind the arc.
Seattle trailed 63-57 after Hiedeman drained one of her four 3-pointers with 3:51 left in the third quarter.
The Aces answered with six straight points, including Wilson’s 3-pointer to make it 69-57 with 1:49 left in the third. That trey gave her 5,999 points.
Jewell Loyd added a 3-pointer as Las Vegas took a 72-59 lead into the final stanza.
Wilson hit the milestone midway through the fourth quarter when she buried a mid-range jumper to give the Aces an 86-75 lead.
Wilson knocked down a trey 67 seconds later to push the lead to 92-81 with 3:49 to play.
Young’s 3-pointer made it 98-84 with 1:39 remaining as the Aces closed it out.
Wilson scored 21 points and Smith added 13 points and seven rebounds in the first half as the Aces held a 50-43 lead.
Malonga scored all 12 of her first-half points in the opening quarter for the Storm.
–Field Level Media
