The Moment That Rewrote the Record Books
Chelsea Gray did something no WNBA player had ever done before. The Las Vegas Aces guard hit two buzzer-beaters in a single game on Thursday, August 6 — including a game-tying three-pointer that forced overtime — as the Aces erased a 20-point deficit to defeat the Indiana Fever 86-84. It was the kind of performance that transcends a box score: 11 points, seven assists, four steals, and a plus-minus of +6 in what became an instant classic.
Aces head coach Becky Hammon was effusive in her praise afterward, and the win drew immediate attention across the league. Yahoo Sports noted Gray "was the star of the night" — an understatement given that she single-handedly kept Las Vegas alive twice in the game's final seconds. The comeback win also featured 22 points from Jackie Young, but Gray's historic clutch performance was the defining story.
The game wasn't without controversy. Fans were ejected from the arena during the contest, and Gray made her feelings about the incident publicly clear after the final buzzer. The ugliness off the court, though, couldn't overshadow what happened on it.
A Week in Full
Gray's heroics against the Fever capped a dominant stretch. Three days earlier, on Monday, August 3, she dropped 17 points, six assists, and two steals in a 109-87 blowout of the Atlanta Dream — a game in which she posted a +22 plus-minus. Through the week, she was the engine driving an Aces team that looked every bit like the defending champions they are.
The run hit a speed bump Saturday, August 8, when Las Vegas fell to the Minnesota Lynx 87-98. Gray finished with nine points and six assists but ended at -9 — a reminder that even historic weeks have rough endings. Yahoo Sports had flagged the Aces-Lynx matchup as a marquee clash between two of the league's best, fresh off Gray's exploits against the Fever.
Williams Holds Her Own in Chicago
While Gray was making history in Las Vegas, Elizabeth Williams was quietly putting together a solid week for the Chicago Sky. The Duke center scored 14 points and went +12 in Chicago's 95-88 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday, August 6, adding two assists and a steal. She also contributed in a Tuesday loss to the Phoenix Mercury — a game that featured Kelsey Plum's much-anticipated Mercury debut — logging six rebounds and a +10 plus-minus despite the defeat. Williams finished the week Saturday against the Fever with two assists and a steal in a narrow 86-90 loss.
Williams also appeared in the news cycle for a different reason: an errant pass she threw in the Sky-Fever game led to a fast break that ended with DiJonai Carrington receiving a Flagrant 2 ejection for a hard foul on Sophie Cunningham.
This was a week that belonged to Chelsea Gray. Two buzzer-beaters, a 20-point comeback, a WNBA record, and a performance that will be replayed for years — all from a Duke guard who just reminded everyone why she's one of the best in the business.
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