“Wilson on the drive. The fade…A’ja Wilson! With 0.1 to go puts the Aces in front by
two!” the announcer shouted with excitement as Aces star A’ja Wilson pulled up on a mid range drive against the Phoenix Mercury. As the seconds counted down in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals series, the entire crowd held their breath. For Mercury fans, this shot was their worst nightmare. Down 2-0 in a seven game series for the championship, they had to pull off this win if they wanted a chance at the trophy and writing the comeback story of the year. But even with two defenders jumping to block the shot, there was no stopping A’ja Wilson, who knocked down the jumper and sent an electric charge through the Vegas Aces.
That electricity didn’t stop there. Two days later, A’ja and her team came out to the
Phoenix homecourt with a chance at their third championship in four years at their fingertips. All they had to do was win one game. The Mercury, on the other hand, had their work cut out for them. They not only had to win this game, but they had to defeat the Aces and their star center A’ja Wilson four times in a row in order to secure their first championship in eleven years. The first quarter started out neck and neck and ended with the Mercury trailing by nine. Phoenix star forward Alyssa Thomas was held to just four points that quarter while A’ja Wilson had a whopping 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. And that wasn’t even the best quarter of the game.
At the end of the second quarter, the Aces made history by becoming the first team in
WNBA Finals history to have zero turnovers for an entire half. Naturally, Phoenix had some
ground to make up. Trailing by sixteen at the half, their problems only got worse in the third
quarter. With under three minutes left in the quarter, referee Gina Cross ejected Mercury coach
Nate Tibbits from the game after issuing a double technical foul for directing obscene language at the referee while arguing a foul call on star player, Monique Akoa Makani. The ejection sparked backlash from fans and players who questioned whether the penalty fit the infraction in that championship moment. Coach Nate Tibbits later reflected on the call, saying, “I think it’s one of the weakest double technicals ever. It wasn’t needed in my opinion. Most coaches when they get tossed, they do it on purpose. That was not my intention at all.”
Despite this, Mercury refused to give up. Instead, they used the ejection as fuel to light
their fire as Phoenix guard Kaleah Copper lit up the scoreboard with 13 points that quarter,
cutting the Vegas lead down to just an eleven point deficit. Then, at the start of the fourth
quarter, Copper and fellow guard DeWanna Boner continued the comeback, hitting deep threes and clutch layups to cut the lead to six with seven minutes to go. The back and forth continued for the rest of the quarter, but the Aces secured a 97-86 victory led by A’ja Wilson, who earned Finals MVP and finished the night with 31 points. She also became the first player in WNBA or NBA history to hold the scoring title, season MVP, finals MVP, and the defensive player of the year awards. Wilson later reflected on the moment, saying, “When your hard work pays off, it’s truly special and I’m so glad I get to celebrate this with our fans here, our family, and also just my teammates. I’m so grateful for this.”