The Las Vegas Aces opened the 2025 WNBA Finals with a thrilling 89-86 victory over the Phoenix Mercury on Friday night at Michelob Ultra Arena. Four-time MVP A’ja Wilson led the charge, posting a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double while adding five assists, a steal, and two blocks. Wilson’s 21-10 performance was the fifth time in her career she reached those numbers in a WNBA Finals game, the most in league history.
While leading her team, Wilson donned the Susie Carmichael A’Ones, and after the game, she revealed that she chose the footwear as a nod to her inner child and personal inspiration.
“Carmichael is that girl. I don't know. It's just a funky, fun pair to wear, and I love them, and we got all my shoes. I love them, obviously. But to be Carmichael, I don't know,” she said (h/t Meghan L. Hall of USA Today). “There's always an inner child that comes out of us, and it's crazy cause today, Becky showed us a video of us from high school and college. It was kind of storytelling us to where we are now.
“Like all the things that we've done in high school. The championships we've won with the people that we've won them with, and it brings us now to the women that we are and how we still have that heart of a child, and we still have that heart of wanting to win with our sisters. So it kind of just kind of relates to that as well. But I love Susie. Susie did not play around with Angelica. She was that girl. Her parents were amazing and I mean, it's just like that young black girl that I wanted to see. Like it gave me a chance to dream and kind of see myself in rugrats.”
A’ja Wilson on why she wore her Susie Carmichael A’One’s tonight.
“Susie Carmichael is that girl.”
Also told an awesome story about Becky Hammon showing the team pictures of themselves as young girls and how they won with their sisters.
(Q: @SoleRetriever) pic.twitter.com/CqJ2Csko1b
— Meghan L. Hall (@ItsMeghanLHall) October 4, 2025
Las Vegas win was far from a solo effort. Dana Evans, coming off the bench, scored a team-high 21 points, matching Wilson, and Jewell Loyd added 18. Overall, the Aces’ reserves outscored Phoenix’s bench 41-16. Chelsea Gray contributed 10 assists, while Jackie Young added 10 points.
The Mercury had the game under their thumb for most of the night, but let it slip at the last minute. Kahleah Copper scored 21 points, with 19 coming in the first half on a remarkable 5-for-6 from three-point range, tying Diana Taurasi’s WNBA Finals record for most threes in a half. Alyssa Thomas flirted with another triple-double, finishing with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. With 24.6 seconds left and down 87-86, Thomas missed two free throws that could have tied the game, giving the Aces the chance to extend the lead. Young converted two clutch free throws with 13.5 seconds remaining, sealing the win for Las Vegas.
The contest was a chess match in motion, with 12 lead changes and nine ties, each team trying to outfox the other at every turn. Phoenix committed 14 turnovers compared to just seven for the Aces. Satou Sabally missed a contested three-pointer in the final seconds, preventing Phoenix from forcing overtime.
Game 2 will take place on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET in Las Vegas, where the Aces will look to maintain their hegemony on the court.
