PHOENIX – Continuing to establish herself as one of the best players in women’s basketball history, A’ja Wilson had a monstrous performance with 41 points and 17 rebounds for the back-to-back WNBA champions Las Vegas Aces as they beat the Phoenix Mercury 97-79 on Sunday.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Like Wilson, Jackie Young recorded a double-double with 11 points and 14 assists for Las Vegas (20-12). Kelsey Plum scored 16 points while Tiffany Hayes came off the bench and clinched 11.
Brittney Griner led the Mercury (16-17) with 24 points, Sophie Cunninghan added 16 from 4-for-6 (66.7%) shooting from three and Kahleah Copper finished with 15. Phoenix are on a three-game losing streak and have now fallen to seventh in the standings, with the Indiana Fever (17-16) leapfrogging them for sixth.
Wilson makes history, Mercury’s technical foul issue continues
With a huge conglomerate of Aces fans who made the short trip to Phoenix, they were treated to an early offensive explosion by Wilson. The two-time WNBA MVP scorched for 15 points as Vegas led 29-10 in the first quarter.
In a foot race between two gold medal Olympians, Copper drove to the basket and collided with Chelsea Gray before Gray struggled to get up. The Aces guard was flat on the court for about a minute until she slowly limped to the bench. She came back toward the end of the second quarter, posting two points and five assists overall in 11 minutes played.
Coming into the game, both Natasha Cloud and Diana Taurasi were tied for the WNBA lead with six technical fouls. They had to be careful because if either one or both got one more, they would reach seven which would warrant an automatic one-game suspension.
But at the 4:24 mark of the second quarter, she received a tech while trying to guard Plum and complained to the official on the sideline. Then when disagreeing with another call in the third quarter, Taurasi was given her seventh.
Unless the fouls are rescinded, Cloud and Taurasi will miss the Mercury’s next game against the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday.
“The technicals have been an issue, obviously we are going to miss a player or two after the technicals today,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. “It’s frustrating. The technicals have been frustrating, the way we’ve been playing is frustrating.”
“The technicals have been an issue.”
With Diana Taurasi and Natasha Cloud reaching 7 technical fouls each on the season, Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts voiced his frustration with the calls.#ValleyTogether #WNBA #ALLINLV pic.twitter.com/ZZLskZJJk2
— Burn City Mercury (@BurnCityMercury) September 1, 2024
The Mercury couldn’t get anything going on both ends of the floor while the Aces had all systems firing. Phoenix shot just 11-for-28 (39.3%) from the field and 2-for-10 (20%) from three at the end of the first half, seeing them down by a wide margin, 52-28.
Exiting the locker room from halftime, however, Phoenix presented more energy and a sense of urgency that the Aces found it difficult to weather the storm. Getting their fans on their feet, the Mercury went on a 19-10 run and outscored Vegas 31-24 in the third quarter.
“I believe we are a good team, the team believes we are a good team and the fans believe we are a good team, we’re searching right now,” Tibbetts said. “We’re not a really good team at the moment. Still believe in the group, but we have to be better.”
Having her way all day, Wilson was a force on offense and a menace in the paint. Wilson became the fourth player in WNBA regular season history to record 35-plus points and 15-plus rebounds in a game and the first since Liz Cambage back in 2018, according to WNBA stat tracking website Across the Timeline. She is also the second player to have three or more 30 points and 15 rebound games in a single season, only former Mercury Tina Charles had more in 2021 (four).
“There’s been some amazing players in our league. What she’s doing right now is just unthinkable how well she is playing on both ends,” Taurasi said. “She is just unguardable. You guys look at her as a post, I look at her as a guard… I believe she is making threes now, good luck for the next 10 years for this league. Kudos to her, every year she has gotten better, she’s added something to her game, she’s in amazing shape. Truly amazing what she has been able to do.”
“What she’s doing right now is unthinkable.”@AlecCipollini asked Phoenix Mercury icon Diana Taurasi about how special Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson is.#ValleyTogether #WNBA #ALLINLV pic.twitter.com/vsehcvdsRf
— Burn City Mercury (@BurnCityMercury) September 1, 2024
The technical fouls were thrown left and right toward the Mercury’s way, with Copper furious after drawing contact with an Aces player. Copper is at six on the season and is one away from joining Cloud and Taurasi with a one-game suspension.
Just when the Mercury sparked some hope that they could pull off a miraculous comeback, the Aces kicked out of their funk and responded. Restoring a 20-plus lead in the fourth quarter, Vegas dished the ball around and found an open teammate at will, setting up a 97-79 win.
With consecutive losses to the Aces, Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty, Phoenix will have to figure out a way to snap this skid as the playoffs are near and the Fever overtakes them in the standings.
“They are the top three teams in the league, everyone knows that because they separated themselves. They make you pay when you make a mistake,” Taurasi said about the Aces, Lynx and Liberty. “The beauty is we have beaten all three teams and most likely we will see one of them. We got to play a lot better than we have in the last week, that’s just reality. We’re gonna have to find it as a group, it’s not going to be one person that is gonna get us out of this hole. I think we have enough veteran leadership that we can all look in the mirror and have some serious conversions in the next couple days.”
Next Games
Mercury: Home vs. Atlanta Dream (11-21) | Sept. 3 | 7 p.m. PT
Aces: Home vs. Chicago Sky (11-21) | Sept. 3 | 7 p.m. PT
Mercury overwhelmingly lead WNBA in technical fouls, several players nearing suspensions
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics, the Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
