Aces star A’ja Wilson breaks WNBA season scoring record, passes Jewell Loyd

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 behind the record, and it didn’t take long for her to get there.

Wilson, after the Aces fell into a 7-0 deficit, drilled four consecutive buckets from the top of the key to get them back 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 give her a season-high 941 points and set a new record.

Wilson entered the locker room with 12 points, giving the Aces a nine-point lead at halftime. She finished with 27 points while making 11 of 28 field goals and adding 12 rebounds in the 11-point victory. Kelsey Mitchell led the Fever with 24 points and Clark finished with 16 points and six assists after making 1 of 10 three-pointers.

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 total on 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.

Wilson is a two-time MVP and the odds-on favorite to win her third league MVP award. She entered Wednesday’s game averaging her career-high 27.3 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game while making 52.7 percent of her shots.

She is also on track to break the WNBA single-season rebounding record set earlier this season by Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese. Reese announced on Sept. 7 that she suffered a season-ending wrist injury and will not add to her record-breaking 446 rebounds. Wilson now has 418 rebounds on the season.

With their win, the Aces move to 23-13, seven games behind the top-ranked Minnesota Lynx and firmly in fourth place in the league in their pursuit of a third straight WNBA title.

The Fever (19-18) have already secured a playoff spot for the first time since 2016. They are sixth in the standings and likely too far behind to overtake the fifth-place Storm before the end of the regular season.