Good morning, I’m Kevin Sweeney, filling in for Dan Gartland. We break down a historic night in the WNBA.
In today’s SI:AM:
🏀 A’ja Wilson matches WNBA single-game scoring record
🏈 College football’s most interesting executives
A’ja Wilson’s 53 points match WNBA record
Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson had a night for the ages Tuesday. Her 53 points in a 112–100 win over the Atlanta Dream equaled Liz Cambage’s single-game league record set in 2018 and helped the Aces get back on track after two losses in three games.
Wilson was cooking from the opening tip. She scored four of Las Vegas’s first five buckets and had 10 points in the game’s first four minutes. Four free throws in the game’s final minute sealed Wilson’s spot in the record book, with the latter two coming after a technical foul by Dream coach Tanisha Wright. In all, Wilson needed just 23 shots to tally her 53 points, and she knocked down a sparkling 20 of 21 free throw attempts on the night.
Screenshot via CBS Sports Network
The eye-popping statistical performance from the two-time MVP earned plenty of praise from around the sports world, including a shout-out from LeBron James.
Meanwhile, Aces coach Becky Hammon had quite the postgame praise for Wilson.
“She runs like a deer, jumps like a cat and catches as if she were Spider-Man,” Hammon said, per ESPN. “She is just special. Her real gift is in her humility and grace and how she handles herself and her teammates. She is a phenomenal superstar.”
