Game of the week
The important, historic game this week was the one between the Las Vegas Aces and the Minnesota Lynx. If you’re the Lynx, it’s all for the bad reasons.
The Aces are the hottest team in the league right now and were going into this game riding a four-game winning streak and gunning for win No. 21. That’s a lot of wins. From tip-off, the Aces showed exactly why they’ve only lost two games all season.
A’ja Wilson was unstoppable, scoring at will from inside and mid-range - missing only three of her 17 field goal attempts. That type of efficient shooting instantly goes to the history books, tying Lisa Leslie for the WNBA record for highest field goal percentage with at least 17 FG tries.
Wilson’s footwork is such a joy to watch:
Run the 🎥 pic.twitter.com/o3z8IoQtsh
— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) July 22, 2023
When the smoke (mostly from Wilson) cleared, the stat sheet showed that she scored 35 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the convincing victory.
With the Aces notching their 21st win, they joined the Houston Comets (1998) and the Seattle Storm (2010) as the only teams in league history to start the season with a 21-2 win-loss record.
Keep tabs on the Las Vegas Aces to see how their hot streak will continue to sizzle.
Team in the spotlight
Sizzle was what the New York Liberty did to start their game against the Indiana Fever. New York had scored 25 points by the 3:42 mark, which was already impressive, but then they found another gear to end the first quarter to score another 19 points in that final stretch.
The Liberty ended the first 12 minutes of the game with 44 points, setting the record for most points in the first quarter by any team in WNBA history.
They beat Indiana by 18 points, but that 44-point explosion to start the game already told that story:
44 POINTS IN THE FIRST QUARTER FOR THE NEW YORK LIBERTY ?
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 23, 2023
Yup, you read that right, the @nyliberty dropped 44 PTS in the 1Q, a new franchise record 👏 pic.twitter.com/2qsHluMWZj
Big-time ballers
Dewanna Bonner was a nightmare for the Atlanta Dream, dropping 20 points on her way to lead the Connecticut Sun to win No. 17 and to make history.
Bonner is now eighth on the WNBA All-Time Points Leaders List with 6,602 total points, passing Candace Parker.
DeWanna Bonner had her name all up and down the stat book today, finishing with 20 PTS, 9 REB, 3 AST to go along with 2 STLs to lead the @ConnecticutSun 👏#MoreThanGame pic.twitter.com/26rB2bqmGH
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 22, 2023
Chicago Sky’s Kahleah Copper has yet to break top 25 in all-time points, but she’s well on the way with another scoring outburst versus the Seattle Storm.
Copper scored 29 points in the win, tying her career-high.
Talk that talk @kahleahcopper 👏
— WNBA (@WNBA) July 23, 2023
Kahleah Copper delivered a strong performance for the @chicagosky tying her career-high, dropping 29 PTS in their victory versus the Seattle Storm #MoreThanGame pic.twitter.com/TRqzpWOFWT
Meanwhile, for the Washington Mystics, the duo of Natasha Cloud and Brittney Sykes brought their A-games simultaneously to cool down Phoenix Mercury.
Both Cloud and Sykes scored 23 points to bring the Mystics back to the win column.
Watch out for…
The Dallas Wings are finding themselves in a good groove, winning five straight games. While the Aces have created comfortable space to get ahead of the pack with a 21-2 record, the Wings are not that far behind with a 13-9 record - good for second place in the West.
In their last game against the Los Angeles Sparks, the Wings’ big three of Natasha Howard, Satou Sabally, and Arike Ogunbowale all scored more than 20 points. They’re not showing any signs of slowing down. Watch out for Dallas.
