League MVP A’ja Wilson scored 31 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and the Las Vegas Aces defeated the Phoenix Mercury 97-86 in Game 4 to win the WNBA Finals and win their third title in four seasons.
Wilson, a four-time league MVP, made 17 of 19 free throws on Friday to earn his second Finals MVP honor.
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She won her first championship in 2023, making it the second of Ace’s two consecutive victories. The only team with a better record is the Houston Comets, who won the first four league titles (1997-2000).
Jackie Young had 18 points and eight assists, Chelsea Gray also had 18 points, Jewell Lloyd had 12 points and Dana Evans had 10 points for the Aces, who made 12 3-pointers and committed just seven turnovers.
Mercury guard Karlea Copper scored 30 points, a playoff career high, but fouled out in the final minutes. Alyssa Thomas had her 10th triple-double of the year and second of the postseason, but Phoenix couldn’t overcome the loss of leading scorer Sato Sabally.
Sabally, who averaged 19 points per game in the postseason, was diagnosed with a concussion and missed the game after colliding with ace Kierstan Bell late in the Mercury’s 90-88 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday.
Thomas had 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. DeWanna Bonner, who started in Sabally’s place, had 10 points and 10 rebounds, but the Mercury committed 18 turnovers, leading to 26 points in Las Vegas.
Wilson: “Alone on Everest”
Wilson averaged 28.5 points and 11.8 rebounds in the series, falling one rebound short of a double-double for the fourth straight year. She had scored 30 points in four of the last six playoff games.
At the postgame media conference, Wilson celebrated with aquamarine goggles, a pink tambourine, a white 2025 WNBA Championship towel and a small burp.
“I’m a Southern girl and I belong to a Baptist church,” Ms. Wilson said, shaking a tambourine. “You know the Word is powerful. It was powerful for us today.”
Wilson was a big reason why the Aces became champions again after losing in the semifinals last season. She became the first player to win Regular Season MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP in the same season. The 29-year-old forward is the best player on the court and is already being talked about as the best player in league history.
“You have Mount Rushmore. She’s alone on Mount Everest,” Hamon said. “There’s no one around.”
3x WNBA Champions x Finals MVP, A’ja Wilson 🏆@LVAces | #WNBAChamps pic.twitter.com/chdArdRaGo
— WNBA (@WNBA) October 11, 2025
WNBA dynasty
The Aces finished with 25 wins in their final 28 games.
L.A. coach Becky Hammon wouldn’t call the Aces team a dynasty, but it was something close.
“These girls are at the top of their game and from top to bottom this is the best basketball the WNBA has ever seen,” Hammon said.
“These players are bigger, stronger, faster and more skilled than (the league) was 10 years ago,” Hammon said. “Their skill sets, their level, there’s no comparison.”
Ace guard Chelsea Gray was more direct. dynasty?
“Yes,” she said. “yes.”
“This one was different because it was different than before,” said Hammon, who is 10-2 in the WNBA Finals. “There was a lot more adversity than any of us anticipated. At the end of the day, we’re all human. We wanted to take it right and wrap it up well.”
The Aces have won seven of the eight games they have played against the Mercury this season, including all four in Phoenix. Wilson did not play in the Aces’ only loss, a 76-70 loss on June 15 in Las Vegas.
“We found a really good team, you know?” Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts said. “We found a team that has been through it together. We found a team that has the ultimate belief and trust that we can get it done. I love what we’ve started to build here.”
Whether Las Vegas can continue to make good progress depends largely on the outcome of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. Most of the aces are free agents, as is the majority of players in the league. Next season’s team could look very different if players decide to go elsewhere.
If Wilson, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray and Jewell Lloyd decide to stay, the Aces could continue this way for a while. If Las Vegas wins its fourth title, it will tie Houston, Seattle and Minnesota for the most titles in league history.
𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐃 🏆🏆🏆
The Las Vegas Aces are the 2025 @WNBA Champions! #RaiseTheStakes pic.twitter.com/ft5N01nJK0
— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) October 11, 2025
