A’ja Wilson matched the single-game WNBA scoring record of 53 points to fuel the visiting Las Vegas Aces to a 112-100 victory over the Atlanta Dream on Tuesday in College Park, Ga.

Wilson became the third player in WNBA history to eclipse 50 points in a single game, joining Liz Cambage (53, 2018) and Riquna Williams (51, 2013).

Wilson, who also had seven rebounds and four blocks, made 16 of 23 shots from the floor and 20 of 21 from the foul line for the game. The two-time WNBA MVP eclipsed her previous career high of 40 points, set during Las Vegas’ 113-89 win over the Washington Mystics on Aug. 11.

Las Vegas’ Kelsey Plum collected 20 points and seven assists and Chelsea Gray recorded 16 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. Jackie Young added 12 points for the Aces (29-4), who shot 50.7 percent from the floor (35 of 69) and 94.4 percent from the foul line (34 of 36).

Las Vegas benefited from a 26-13 run that spanned the third quarter en route to completing a four-game season sweep of the Dream.

Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard scored 27 points in her return from a one-game absence due to facial and knee injuries. Haley Jones had a career-high 23 points and Danielle Robinson added a season-high 17 points for the short-handed Dream (16-17), who have lost four of their last five games.

Allisha Gray (ankle) and Nia Coffey (hand) sat out for Atlanta.

The Dream’s Aari McDonald drained a 3-pointer to forge a tie at 60-60 early in the third quarter before Las Vegas ignited a 16-5 run to take control of the game. Gray scored eight points and Wilson added six in that surge.

The Aces kept the pressure on in the fourth quarter, with Gray sinking a long, pull-up jumper and Jackie Young converting from 3-point range to extend their advantage to 87-70.

Wilson made a pair of free throws, two driving layups and a short jumper on consecutive possessions to push Las Vegas’ lead to 97-79. The Aces were not threatened the rest of the way.

Wilson made four free throws in the final minute of the game to reach her record-tying point total.

–Field Level Media

Coming off a road victory over the WNBA’s top team and reigning champion, the Los Angeles Sparks bring a four-game winning streak into a matchup at home Wednesday with the skidding Phoenix Mercury.

Los Angeles (13-18) held the host Las Vegas Aces to 36 percent shooting from the floor, including 25 percent (8 of 32) on 3-point attempts, in a 78-72 win on Saturday. Las Vegas (28-4) is scoring 93.1 points per game and had not lost at home in the regular season since June of 2022.

The Sparks’ defense ranks is fourth with 81.0 points allowed per game, but has held each of their last three opponents to fewer than that mark. Los Angeles defeated the Indiana Fever 87-80 on Aug. 8 and the Atlanta Dream 85-74 on Aug. 12 ahead of Saturday’s marquee win.

In addition to its defensive tenacity, Los Angeles has received key contributions from Jordin Canada. She produced her second 20-point game in as many outings to help set the tone at Las Vegas, knocked down 4 of 8 from 3-point range and had three steals.

Canada has 14 steals during the Sparks’ winning streak.

“(It’s) the confidence in myself and getting back to who I was,” Canada said on the ESPN broadcast. “And then the coaches and my teammates believing in me and giving me that courage to take those shots.”

While Los Angeles is flourishing on defense, Phoenix (9-23) is sputtering on offense. The Mercury are on a three-game losing streak, putting up 71 points in a 10-point loss to Seattle, 63 in a 22-point blowout defeat against New York and 73 on Sunday against Indiana.

Phoenix’s 77.2-point per game output is lowest in the WNBA.

The Mercury played without leading scorer and rebounder Brittney Griner the last two contests. Griner is listed as questionable Wednesday due to an illness. Diana Taurasi also is questionable due to a toe injury.

Phoenix added Ashley Joens, a 2022-23 NCAA All-American at Iowa State, on a hardship contract last week.

“Our message to our players is just next woman up,” Mercury interim coach Nikki Blue said. “This is an opportunity for someone to step up and show what they have.”

–Field Level Media

Nearly two weeks ago, the Dallas Wings seemed like they were headed for a disastrous late-season swoon.

Dallas coach Latricia Trammell’s squad had lost the first three games of a four-game homestand, allowing 104 points in each defeat.

Since then, however, the Wings have tightened up defensively and have scored at will during a three-game winning streak that they will take into a meeting with the Minnesota Lynx in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

“When we’re playing our game and we’re connecting and sharing the basketball and defending together as a team, this is a very dangerous team,” Trammell said, per The Next Hoops, after Dallas’ 91-81 home win over the Connecticut Sun on Aug. 12, which snapped its three-game skid.

After salvaging the homestand, Dallas (18-14) again shredded one of the WNBA’s best defenses on Friday, using 30 points from Arike Ogunbowale and a dominant fourth quarter to coast past the Sun, 95-75, in Uncasville, Conn.

Ogunbowale was one of six Wings scorers to reach double figures as Dallas picked apart the Washington Mystics 97-84 on Sunday for their sixth win in their past seven road games.

The Wings return to Minnesota after hanging 107 points on the Lynx in a 40-point blowout win on July 12, and Tuesday’s game threatens to yield a similar result if Minnesota (15-17) displays the same weary effort it did during Sunday’s 88-74 home loss to the Seattle Storm.

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve blasted her team’s “terrible” defensive performance, which Jewell Loyd took full advantage of by canning five 3-pointers for Seattle en route to a 31-point game.

“The focal point was to get them off the 3-point line,” Reeve said. “We went under screens, we were out of plays, and they’re wide open.”

Having just faced the league’s top scorer in Loyd brings Minnesota opportunities to adjust its defensive game plan for Ogunbowale, whose 21 points per game rank fifth in the WNBA.

“It’s about dictating and being up and making things hard — make them do something different,” Lynx guard Kayla McBride said.

“It’s a challenge every night, and I look forward to it.”

McBride’s 13.3 points per game for Minnesota rank second behind Napheesa Collier’s 21.2.

After Tuesday’s contest, the Lynx and Wings meet in Dallas on Thursday.

–Field Level Media

The winning formula for the Seattle Storm is easy to figure out: Get Jewell Loyd cooking and find ways to get stops defensively.

That worked out Sunday night in Minneapolis, where Loyd went off for 31 points and Seattle held the Minnesota Lynx to 35.3 percent shooting in an 88-74 win that kept its slim WNBA playoff hopes alive.

The Storm will stay on the road Tuesday night for a matchup with another team currently outside of the playoff picture, the struggling Chicago Sky.

Seattle (10-22) is playing its best basketball of the year, winning six of its last nine games. The Storm have also received nearly 23 points per game in that span from Loyd, the league’s scoring leader. They now trail Los Angeles by 3 1/2 games for the final playoff spot.

Loyd said the team played textbook road basketball in Minnesota.

“You want to get off to a good start and take the crowd out of it,” she said, per the Seattle Times. “We kind of got momentum. We were hitting shots and competing. We wanted to be aggressive, whether it was screening, going to the rim hard or running the floor hard.”

While the Storm might finally have found a groove, Chicago (12-20) is stumbling at an inopportune time. With just eight games left, the Sky are on a five-game skid after Sunday’s 79-73 home loss to Connecticut.

The Sky hit only 41.3 percent of their field goal attempts, including 3 of 21 from the 3-point line. They were outrebounded 33-25 and allowed the Sun to make 47.4 percent from the field.

“If we don’t tighten up, our last game is going to be Sept. 10,” said guard Courtney Williams, referring to the regular season’s end. “We have to show up every game with the same energy. At times, we just don’t do that.”

Chicago trails Los Angeles by 1 1/2 games and the Sparks also have a game in hand.

The Sky and Storm have split two games this season with each team winning on the road.

–Field Level Media

The Connecticut Sun finally wrapped up a WNBA playoff spot, but there’s still work to do.

The Washington Mystics are in more dire need of a win, particularly with roster questions ahead of Tuesday night’s matchup against the Sun in Washington.

The Sun (22-10) are one of three teams to earn a postseason berth thus far, doing so by snapping a three-game skid with Sunday’s 79-73 victory at Chicago.

The Mystics (15-17), who had a two-game win streak halted with Sunday’s loss to Dallas, might be challenged to reach the postseason.

Washington may also have to make its charge without Elena Delle Donne, who sat out Sunday with a right hip injury. She is listed as questionable for Tuesday.

Thibault said an ankle ailment that had been bothering Delle Donne is no longer a problem. She has played only 11 minutes in one game since July 9.

But with the 6-foot-5 Delle Donne out, and 6-foot-5 Shakira Austin having played only two games since June — and sitting out Sunday as a precaution to monitor her workload — the Mystics are vulnerable in the post.

“Everything we talked about that we did well to get our last couple of wins, defensively, we didn’t commit to,” Mystics coach Eric Thibault said.

Austin (hip strain) is listed as probable for Tuesday, while Kristi Toliver (plantar fasciitis) remains out.

Defense tends to be the difference for the Sun, who held their opponents to 73 points or fewer in its past four victories. Connecticut gave up 87 or more points in its last four defeats.

Yet becoming crisper on offense is also a topic for the Sun.

“Move and shift quicker instead of standing and watching,” coach Stephanie White said. “We either have to go right away or give it a chance to develop.”

Connecticut has won all three meetings with Washington this season, claiming six- and seven-point triumphs across a three-day span in May and picking up a 92-84 home victory July 9.

DeWanna Bonner has been the Sun’s top scorer in two of the three meetings with the Mystics.

This is the second game of Washington’s four-game homestand. It marks Connecticut’s penultimate road game of the regular season.

–Field Level Media