The Las Vegas Aces are on the verge of their third championship in franchise history following their thrilling 90-88 Game 3 win against the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Finals. The Aces faced a little adversity early as the Mercury sliced into a double-digit deficit to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, but it was Aces star A’ja Wilson who rose to the occasion, sinking the ultimate game-winner to power the team through in Game 3.

With the game tied at 88, A’ja Wilson found herself isolated against DeWanna Bonner, saw Alyssa Thomas come over to help and calmly buried a step-back jumper for the game-winner in Game 3. There was a little time left on the clock for the Mercury to get a potential tying shot off, but Bonner’s attempt missed and the Aces grabbed a commanding 3-0 lead in the WNBA Finals.

For the Aces to be one game away from winning a title is quite remarkable from where they began the regular season. Before the All-Star break, the Aces were hovering around .500. But using a major surge in the second half of the season, they managed to grab the No. 2 overall seed in the standings and have not looked back.

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Perhaps the biggest reason for the Aces’ turnaround is the elite level of play from Wilson. Wilson made history this year in becoming the first WNBA player ever to win four MVP awards. And now she is on the verge of her third championship in four years.

Coming into Game 3 against the Mercury, Wilson had been averaging 25.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.3 steals and 2.4 blocked shots with splits of 48.5 percent shooting from the field, 45.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 73.2 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

In Game 3, Wilson finished with a game-high 34 points to go along with 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots in a little over 38 minutes of play. She shot 11-of-20 from the field, 1-of-2 from the three-point line and 11-of-12 from the free-throw line.