In Tuesday’s 85-72 victory against the Seattle Storm, Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson set a new WNBA single-season rebounding record, surpassing Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese, who is sidelined with a wrist injury. Wilson grabbed seven rebounds in the game, bringing her total to 451 rebounds for the season, edging out Reese’s mark of 446, set earlier this month.
Wilson’s rebounding record follows her historic scoring achievements. Just last week, she broke the WNBA single-season scoring record and on Sunday became the first player in league history to surpass 1,000 points in a single season.
Reflecting on her accomplishments, Wilson expressed gratitude, saying, “This league is tough, so if my name can be in the record books in some sort of way, it’s a blessing.“ She also admitted that she wasn’t aware of the rebounding record, as rebounding isn’t something she actively focuses on.
“I’m 6-foot-4 and I’m around the basket; I hope I can grab a couple rebounds for my team,” she said after a lighthearted exchange with Aces coach Becky Hammon, who joked, “No, she didn’t know [about the record]. You can tell.“
Reese‘s record, set on September 1, held for less than three weeks before Wilson eclipsed it. The Sky rookie, who averaged a league-leading 13.1 rebounds per game, saw her season cut short after suffering a wrist fracture. Wilson, averaging a career-high 11.9 rebounds per game this season, has never previously averaged double-digit rebounds.
Las Vegas Aces can move up to third seed for Playoffs
With the win over Seattle, the Aces secured home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, as they aim to defend their back-to-back WNBA championships. Currently sitting as the No. 4 seed, Las Vegas can move up to the third spot with a win against the Dallas Wings on Thursday, provided the Connecticut Sun lose to the Sky.
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Aces coach Becky Hammon expressed confidence in her team’s progress, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “Our best basketball is still in front of us, and we also know that we are starting to click.” She added, “Ask me three weeks ago, and I was not liking us. And today, I feel pretty good about where we are at as a basketball team.”
