Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts took his players to task after they suffered one of the worst blowouts in WNBA history Saturday night in a 106-58 loss to the host Las Vegas Aces.
The 48-point loss is tied for the third largest in league history. The record is a 59-point defeat by the Indiana Fever to Minnesota in 2017, a game in which the Lynx went on a 37-0 run. In Saturday's rout, the Aces never had a run longer than nine points. They led by as many as 54 in the fourth quarter.
"The reality is, we can't have any more of these," Tibbetts said. "It's time for us to make a move if we're going to make a move. You don't want to come out and play like that. Extremely disappointed for everyone involved -- the players, the staff, the organization, the fans, everybody. That was completely unacceptable."
A'ja Wilson had 21 points and 15 rebounds in 25 minutes for the Aces. Wilson, the four-time MVP, had a double-double by halftime, and Justine Pissott finished with 19 points in her first WNBA game.
Chelsea Gray and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus both added 15 points for the Aces (17-6), who had 30 assists, including 11 by Gray. NaLyssa Smith contributed 14 points.
Monique Akoa Makani led Phoenix (8-16) with 13 points and Lexi Held had 11. DeWanna Bonner, who became the third player in league history to surpass 8,000 points, was held to two. The Mercury beat the Aces by 30 in the season opener.
"That was ugly, disappointing, all of the above," Tibbetts said. "We're going to find out a lot about us on Monday, see what kind of response we have. Listen, no one's going to feel sorry for us. We got to compete, and we did not do that at a high enough level, not even close today."
The Aces lost 111-58 to Minnesota last year in the second-biggest margin in league history. Las Vegas then won the next 16 games to close the regular season and went on to win its third WNBA title in four seasons.
Las Vegas scored the first nine points Saturday and led 29-9 after the first quarter. Wilson had nine points, the Aces hit 5 3-pointers and the Mercury were 3-of-17 shooting with five turnovers.
The onslaught continued in the second quarter, with the Aces leading by as many as 37 points before taking a 57-22 advantage into the break. The largest lead in the third quarter was 45 and the Aces led 79-36 entering the fourth.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
