A’ja Wilson’s career-high 40 points, 12 rebounds lead Aces’ win

LAS VEGAS — A’ja Wilson scored a career-high 40 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Kelsey Plum had 19 points and 10 assists for her first double-double of the season, and the Las Vegas Aces beat the Washington Mystics 113-89 on Friday night.

Wilson finished 17-of-25 from the field — with no 3-pointers — to reach 40 points, matching Plum for the Aces’ single-game scoring record, which she set earlier this season.

Wilson is the first WNBA player to score 40 points in a game without a 3. She also became the eighth player in WNBA history to have 40 points and 10 rebounds in a game and only the fourth to put up those numbers in a regulation contest.

She scored 10 of Las Vegas’ opening 19 points and finished the half with 24 points and seven rebounds. The Aces led 57-48 at the break.

“I’ve always imagined when people get 40, it’s just this feeling that they get,” Wilson said. “But I really didn’t ‘feel’ it, and I love that. It was just in the flow of the offense. My teammates were finding me in my spots. I’m happy that it was in the flow of our system.

“My biggest thing is how can I make the defense uncomfortable? Where can I get them to be reactionary to me, and not playing their game?”

Plum said she expects Wilson to break the team single-game scoring record they now share.

“I just think she plays harder than everyone,” Plum said. “When you have a superstar that plays that hard all the time, it’s unguardable.”

Chelsea Gray also had 19 points and 10 assists to reach 3,500 points for her career. It’s the second time in Aces franchise history that three players have recorded double-doubles in the same game; the other was in 2001, when Margo Dydek, Natalie Williams and Adrienne Goodson did so when the franchise was known as the Utah Starzz.

Jackie Young added 17 points for Las Vegas (26-3).

The score was tied at 68 with four minutes left in the third quarter before Young made a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to start a 20-6 run for an 88-74 lead entering the fourth.

The Aces reached the century mark for the eighth time this season, already the fifth-most such games in a season in WNBA history.

Natasha Cloud scored 21 points and Tianna Hawkins had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Washington (13-16). Hawkins and Cloud both went down with injuries in the fourth quarter before going to the locker room.

Myisha Hines-Allen had 15 points and Brittney Sykes scored 12.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.