A’ja Wilson had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and rookie Justine Pissott scored 19 points in a historic WNBA debut, as the Las Vegas Aces routed the Phoenix Mercury 106-58 on Saturday, the largest margin of victory in franchise history and tied for the third-largest in WNBA history.
Las Vegas used a 9-0 run and led 29-9 after the first quarter, with Wilson scoring nine points. The lead grew to 37 before halftime, tying the franchise record for largest halftime lead. Las Vegas went up as much as 45 in the third quarter, and led 79-36 before Pissott led the charge.
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Pissott checked in to start the fourth quarter and hit her first 3-pointer less than a minute later, finishing 7-of-8 from the field with five 3-pointers in the period alone, a WNBA record for points scored in a single quarter by a player making her league debut, eclipsing the previous mark of 14 shared by Zia Cooke and Candace Parker. She had spent the past week on Indiana‘s practice roster before Las Vegas signed her. She said coach Becky Hammon’s message before she checked in helped settle her nerves.
“I was definitely nervous. Everyone kept telling me to shoot the ball with confidence, and Coach Becky just said, ‘Go in there and do what you do,'” Pissott said. “Once she said that, I took a deep breath, relaxed, and just played my game.”
Hammon mentioned that Pissott’s shooting was only one of the many qualities that impressed her.
“I was happy to see that she made some really good basketball reads, not just shots,” Hammon said. “That’s quite a debut for a rookie, 19 points in 10 minutes.”
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Wilson recorded her 131st career double-double, ranked fifth all-time in the WNBA. She recorded her 101st 20-point double-double, just behind Tina Charles‘ 110. Her 27th double-double this season leads the league, and she has scored in 45 straight games, attributing her success to defense-focused practices during her Portland trip.
“Going into Portland, I honestly can’t remember a practice where we worked on offense. Becky drilled defense into us over and over,” Wilson said. “We needed it. We still need it. This was a good performance, but we can still be better.”
Chelsea Gray added 15 points and 11 assists for her 23rd career double-double, and the Aces finished with 30 assists on 39 made field goals. Cheyenne Parker-Tyus scored a season-high 15 points off the bench and passed 1,000 career defensive rebounds, and NaLyssa Smith added 14. Las Vegas (17-6) outrebounded Phoenix 47-29.
Monique Akoa Makani led Phoenix (8-16) with 13 points, Lexi Held scored 11, but DeWanna Bonner, who reached 8,000 career points earlier this week, was limited to 2. The Mercury lost three straight.
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“That was ugly. It was disappointing in every way,” Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said. “We’re going to find out a lot about ourselves on Monday based on how we respond. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. We have to compete, and we did not do that at a high enough level today, not even close.”
Held said the effort level was something the team could control and chose not to.
“We’ve had games this year where we dig ourselves into a hole and fight back, and we’ve had others where we get into a hole and, for whatever reason, don’t respond the way we need to,” Held said. “We all have to look in the mirror and figure out why we’re picking and choosing something that’s completely controllable.”
Akoa Makani called for more accountability within the Mercury roster, not focusing on officiating or referees.
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“Right now we’re picking and choosing when we want to play. Sometimes we’re focusing on the referees or looking for excuses,” Akoa Makani said. “We need to look ourselves in the mirror, be honest, and hold ourselves accountable so we can move forward and get better.”
The loss is similar to a year ago when Las Vegas lost by 53 points to Minnesota, the second-largest league margin at the time, before winning 16 straight games to finish the season and win its third title in four years.
Las Vegas will face the Indiana Fever on Sunday, while Phoenix will play against the Minnesota Lynx on Monday.
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