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South Carolina Basketball: Gamecock legend A’ja Wilson had huge performance on her birthday

By Kevin Miller

South Carolina basketball alum Aja Wilson has won the WNBA's Western Conference Player of the Month award again. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports
South Carolina basketball alum Aja Wilson has won the WNBA's Western Conference Player of the Month award again. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tuesday was Aja Wilson‘s birthday. The South Carolina basketball legend decided the best way to celebrate was by dominating the Dallas Wings, and, unfortunately for the Wings and their fans, that’s exactly what she did.

Wilson was phenomenal in Dallas on Tuesday as she led all players in scoring (28 points on 10/18 shooting from the field and a birthday date-matching 8/8 shooting from the free throw line) and rebounding (14 boards) while posting a ridiculous +34 for her game’s +/- rating.

Wilson also had zero turnovers on the night and led the Aces to a 20-point victory (104-84), but Las Vegas had a 37-point lead in the 3rd quarter before taking their foot off the gas. Oh, yeah: Aja Wilson did all of that in just 24 minutes of game action.

Tuesday’s dismantling of Dallas was just the latest installment of Aja Wilson’s campaign for another MVP award. Wilson and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart are the clear best players in the game and the frontrunners for the 2023 iteration of the MVP award.

While the betting market currently supports Stewart as the favorite to win the award, Wilson has been closing the gap in recent weeks and, frankly, she should be considered the MVP favorite.

On the 2023 season, Wilson is averaging 20.5 points per game, 9.6 rebounds per game, 2.2 blocks per game, 2.0 assists per game, and 1.2 steals per game on 53.5% shooting from the field with just 1.4 turnovers per game. For comparison, Stewart’s numbers sit at 22.7/9.2/1.5/3.6/1.5 in the same stats while shooting 45.6% with 1.6 turnovers per game.

The Aces are also the runaway favorites to win the Western Conference with a 25-3 record, even while missing Candace Parker for a month. The Liberty are very good (2nd place in the Easter Conference), but the Aces are great and should be the first team to win back-to-back championships since the LA Sparks won 2 in a row and the Houston Comets won 4 in a row in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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