Connecticut’s Aneesah Morrow (24) tries to get past Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson in Friday night’s WNBA game at the Mohegan Sun Arena. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
A’ja Wilson scored her first point in the WNBA on the floor of the Mohegan Sun Arena. She and the Aces won their first WNBA championship on the hardwood in Uncasville in 2022.
Wilson made her final WNBA appearance in Connecticut a memorable one, scoring a season-high 45 points as the defending league champion Aces (3-1) beat the winless Sun for the second time in three nights with a 101-94 victory in Uncasville before 7,245 fans.
Wilson’s previous high against the Sun was 22 points on Wednesday night. On Friday, she was 15-of-18 from the floor with a pair of three-point shots and a perfect 13-of-13 from the foul line.
Wilson’s 45 points was the most points ever scored by a single player against the Sun, now 0-4. The previous high was 44 points by Betty Lennox of Atlanta in 2008.
“You always want the best player on the planet to shoot the ball more,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “She spent some time out of training camp with some bumps and bruises. She has been trying to her rhythm back and get her legs beneath her. In this game, she clearly did.”
The Sun (0-4) were in the game through three quarters. An 8-0 run in the third quarter fueled by two steals and an offensive rebound from Saniya Rivers brought the Sun within two points of Las Vegas with 1:13 remaining in the third quarter.
Newcomer Neil Angloma, the Sun’s first round draft pick, had pair of baskets in her WNBA debut and Rivers hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to two, 72-70.
But Wilson responded with a three-pointer and after Cheyenne Parker-Tyus blocked Angloma, Wilson responded with another basket at the other end and the lead was quickly back to seven, 77-70.
Las Vegas used a 16-4 run to take command of the contest.
Connecticut was missing 6-foot-9 Brittney Griner (sprained foot) and 6-foot-4 Olivia Nelson Ododa (right ankle) due to injuries. Six-foot-3 Aalyah Edwards made her season debut in the middle but it wasn’t enough to contain Wilson, the four-time league MVP.
“We ran some basic sets, kind of old school basketball,” Hammon said. “We felt we had an advantage with the bigs so we tried to play through that and play through (Wilson) and she did what she did.”
Wilson’s career-high was 53 points against Atlanta in 2023. This was her fifth game with more than 40 points in her career.
She hit her first six shots from the floor, scoring 11 in the first quarter and eight in the second quarter. She had 13 points each in the third and fourth quarter.
“I think I was a little more patient with my approach and getting to my spots,” Wilson said.
Chennedy Carter finished a great series against the Sun with 18 points for the Aces while Jackie Young scored 13 and Chelsea Gray added 12 points.
Carter, who was out of the WNBA a year ago, scored 27 points off the bench on Wednesday night.
Las Vegas beat the Sun for the tenth straight time, dating back to June 2023. The last win for the Sun over the Aces at Mohegan Sun came in game three of the 2022 WNBA finals with a 105-76 blowout win.
Guard Hailey Van Lith, who the Sun claimed off waivers from Chicago just prior to the start of the season, led Connecticut with a career-high 17 points. Rivers scored 14 and had seven assists while Kennedy Burke added 11 for the Sun.
Guard Charlisse Leger-Walker had the first 10-point game of her career with Aneesah Morrow scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
Connecticut tries to regroup and secure their first win of the season when they head to the West Coast for a five-game road trip beginning with a game against the expansion Portland Fire on Monday night at 10 p.m.
The Sun will play two games with Seattle, one with Golden State and another game with Portland before returning to Connecticut to play Los Angeles in Hartford on Saturday, May 30 at 6 p.m.
Las Vegas 101, Connecticut 94
At Uncasville
Las Vegas (101) Talbot 0-0 1-2 1, Smith 2-4 0-0 4, Wilson 15-18 13-13 45, Gray 4-7 1-1 12, Young 6-16 1-2 13, Parker-Tyus 1-1 0-0 2, Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Loy 2-4 1-2 6, Carter 5-8 8-12 18. Total 35-58 25-32 101
Connecticut (94) Edwards 3-5 0-0 6, Miller 3-10 2-2 10, Burke 5-12 0-0 11, Van Lith 7-11 0-0 17, Kneepkens 1-5 1-1 3, Morrow 4-11 2-2 10, Beers 2-4 2-2 6, Angloma 3-6 1-2 7, Rivers 5-12 2-2 14, Leger-Walker 3-5 3-5 3-4 10. Totals 36-81, 13-15 94
Las Vegas (3-1) 28 26 25 22 — 101
Connecticut (0-4) 20 24 27 23 — 94
Three-point goals: Las Vegas 6-13 (Wilson 2-2, Gray 3-5, Young 0-2, Loyd 1-3, Carter 0-1); Connecticut 9-25 (Miller 2-4, Burke 1-5, Van Lith 3-4, Kneepkens 0-2, Morrow 0-3, Rivers 2-6, Leger-Walker 1-1)
