The races for the playoffs and MVP award are heating up, and A’ja Wilson and Allisha Gray are front and center. Catch up on all the Gamecocks in the WNBA.
Wilson also has a chance to set the record for the second-best scoring season in league history. She already holds the record with 1,021 points, set last year. That mark is safe, but the second-best scoring season is 939 points, set by her current teammate Jewel Loyd in 2023.
Wilson currently has 789 points, so she needs to score 151 points over the final six games to top Loyd. That’s an average of 25.17 points per game. During Las Vegas’ 10-game winning streak, Wilson is averaging 27.0 points.
Atlanta Dream (24-13)
Allisha Gray
37 games (37 starts), 35.1 mpg, 18.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.2 spg
Gray made her MVP statement in Atlanta’s 75-73 takedown of Minnesota. She gets another high-profile game on Wednesday against Las Vegas.
Last week:
at Las Vegas (74-72 loss): 36 minutes*, 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
vs Minnesota (75-73 win): 31 minutes*, 27 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, 2 blocks
vs New York (78-62 win): 32 minutes*, 19 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Te-Hina Paopao
36 games (9 starts), 15.8 mpg, 5.7 ppg, 2.1 apg, 1.4 rpg, 41.6 3P%
Paopao has been playing starter minutes for a while, and Atlanta finally conceded the obvious and moved her into the starting lineup. It’s no coincidence that Atlanta is better when Paopao plays more.
Last week:
at Las Vegas (74-72 loss): 32 minutes, 7 points, 5 assists, rebound, 1-4 3PT
vs Minnesota (75-73 win): 30 minutes*, 8 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 2-6 3PT
vs New York (78-62 win): 24 minutes*, 9 points, 3 assists, rebound, steal, 3-6 3PT
Upcoming games:
Wednesday, August 27 vs Las Vegas (7:30 ET, NBA TV/League Pass)
Friday, August 29 vs Dallas (7:30 ET, Ion/League Pass)
Chicago Sky (9-27)
Kamilla Cardoso
32 games (31 starts), 26.7 mpg, 13.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 0.9 bpg, 53.1 FG%
Last week, Angel Reese returned from a back injury, but Chicago has finally been officially eliminated from the playoffs. Neither fact seemed to slow down Cardoso. She had a monster 22-point, 15-rebound game in Chicago’s shocking upset of New York, and she has five or more assists in each game. During August, Cardoso is averaging 14.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.4 blocks.
Last week:
vs Seattle (94-88 loss): 26 minutes*, 10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks
at New York (91-85 win): 34 minutes*, 22 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, block
vs Connecticut (94-84 loss): 34 minutes*, 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists
Upcoming games:
Monday, August 25 vs Las Vegas (8:00 ET, NBA TV/League Pass)
Thursday, August 28 at Phoenix (10:00 ET, Amazon Prime)
Saturday, August 30 at Seattle (9:00 ET, League Pass)
Dallas Wings (9-29)
Tyasha Harris
5 games, 16.5 mpg, 4.6 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 45.5 3P%
Harris injured her left knee against Connecticut on May 27. Initially, there was optimism that it wasn’t long-term, but unfortunately, Harris underwent season-ending surgery on June 10.
Golden State Valkyries (19-18)
Laeticia Amihere
25 games, 13.4 mpg, 5.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.0 apg
Amihere had solid games against Phoenix, filling up the box score.
Last week:
vs Phoenix (98-91 loss): 23 minutes, 11 points, 7 rebounds, block
at Phoenix (81-72 loss): 22 minutes, 6 points, 8 rebounds
at Dallas (90-81 win): 7 minutes, block
Upcoming games:
Saturday, August 30 vs Washington (8:30 ET, League Pass)
Sunday, August 31 vs Indiana (8:30 ET, NBA TV/League Pass)
Indiana Fever (19-16)
Aliyah Boston
37 games (37 starts), 30.2 mpg, 15.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.0 bpg, 1.0 spg, 54.6 FG%
Boston is back in the league’s top five for field goal percentage, but she was relatively quiet last week against Minnesota. Part of that is Minnesota’s defense, and part is Indiana’s patchwork roster and the lack of a point guard.
Last week:
vs Minnesota (95-90 loss): 32 minutes*, 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
at Minnesota (97-84 loss): 34 minutes*, 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, steal, block
Upcoming games:
Tuesday, August 26 vs Seattle (7:00 ET, CBS Sports Network)
Friday, August 29 at Los Angeles (10:00 ET, Ion/League Pass)
Sunday, August 31 at Golden State (8:30 ET, NBA TV/League Pass)
Las Vegas Aces (24-14)
A’ja Wilson
34 games (34 starts), 30.9 mpg, 23.2 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.2 bpg, 1.6 spg
This week in A’ja Wilson Milestones: Against Atlanta, Wilson became the youngest and fastest player to reach 2,000 made field goals, the youngest and fastest player to reach 5,500 career points, recorded her 33rd 30+-point game, second most in league history, and notched her third career 30+-point, 10+-rebound, 5+-block game, most in WNBA history.
Against Washington, Wilson had her 10th 30-point game of the season, becoming the first player in WNBA history with multiple seasons with 10 or more 30-point games.
Diana Taurasi holds the league record with 54 30-point games. She needed 565 games to accomplish that. Wilson has only played 261 games, putting her on pace to break that record, too.
Last week:
vs Atlanta (74-72 win): 37 minutes*, 32 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, 4 assists, steal
vs Phoenix (83-61 win): 30 minutes*, 19 points, 13 rebounds, assist, steal, block
at Washington (91-81 win): 33 minutes*, 36 points, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, assist
Upcoming games:
Monday, August 25 at Chicago (8:00 ET, NBA TV/League Pass)
Wednesday, August 27 at Atlanta (7:30 ET, NBA TV/League Pass)
Los Angeles Sparks (17-18)
Sania Feagin
12 games, 5.1 mpg, 1.2 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.5 bpg
Feagin did not play last week.
Last week:
vs Dallas (81-80 win): DNP-CD
Upcoming games:
Tuesday, August 26 vs Phoenix (10:00 ET, NBA TV/League Pass)
Friday, August 29 vs Indiana (10:00 ET, Ion/League Pass)
Sunday, August 31 vs Washington (8:00 ET, League Pass)
Seattle Storm (20-18)
Zia Cooke
25 games, 10.2 mpg, 3.4 ppg, 0.5 apg, 0.5 rpg
After trading Cooke away on August 5th (she was immediately waived by Washington), Seattle brought Cooke back on August 18. She appeared in one game last week, the blowout win over Dallas.
Last week:
at Chicago (94-88 win): DNP-CD
at Dallas (95-60 win): 7 minutes, 5 points, steal
at Washington (84-82 win): DNP-CD
Tiffany Mitchell (First 16 games with Las Vegas)
33 games (3 starts), 14.0 mpg, 3.5 ppg, 1.2 rpg
Mitchell had one of her best games in recent weeks against Dallas, chipping in 11 points.
Last week:
at Chicago (94-88 win): 11 minutes, 2 points, rebound, steal
at Dallas (95-60 win): 21 minutes, 11 points, assist, steal, block
at Washington (84-82 win): 7 minutes, no stats
Upcoming games:
Tuesday, August 26 at Indiana (7:00 ET, CBS Sports Network)
Thursday, August 28 at Minnesota (8:00 ET, League Pass)
Saturday, August 30 vs Chicago (9:00 ET, League Pass)
Unsigned
Bree Hall
2 games, 3.9 mpg, 1.5 ppg, 1.0 rpg
Golden State waived Hall on Monday, June 30, to create roster space for players returning from EuroBasket. It wasn’t a surprise, but hopefully Hall put herself on the league’s radar.