Becky Hammon hailed A'ja Wilson's big-game mentality after her last-second jumper put the Las Vegas Aces on the cusp of another WNBA Championship.

The Aces, who won the title in Hammon's first two seasons as head coach in 2022 and 2023, hold a 3-0 advantage over the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Finals.

That is after they pulled out a dramatic 90-88 victory in Game 3 on the road on Wednesday, with Wilson capping a stellar 34-point display with the decisive moment.

Wilson, who was recently crowned WNBA MVP for the fourth time, made a turnaround jumper over Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner with 0.3 seconds left on the clock.

Wilson made 11 of 20 shots from the field and added four assists. She is averaging 26.4 points in 11 postseason games this year, while her 291 total points over those 11 games is a WNBA postseason record.

Asked to summarise the Aces' approach when things got desperate late on, Hammon said: "Get the ball to A'ja and get out of the way!

"We threw a punch, and they crawled back. Of course, I want the game to be played perfectly, but you have to credit Phoenix for getting hot and giving themselves a chance to win at the end. 

"It's a desperate team – they had to win that one – but we were able to withstand the storm."

A'ja Wilson is THAT GIRL

Not only did she hit the game winning shot, but A'ja dropped a Finals career-high 34 PTS, 14 REB, 4 AST & 3 BLKS in the @LVAces Game 3 win!

The first player in WNBA history to record back-to-back 25+ PTS and 10+ REB games in the Finals.
Has the… pic.twitter.com/o9Moj6RO4i

— WNBA (@WNBA) October 9, 2025

Wilson's shot was the ninth game-winning field goal in the final five seconds of a Finals game in WNBA history, and she has only failed to hit 20 points in two of Las Vegas' postseason outings this year.

"I appreciate Becky trusting me in those moments," Wilson said. "But those are just playoff moments. Those are moments that you live for. I'm glad I was able to come to work.

"It's the Finals. These are the times that you see on TV. You're watching on TV and you're like, 'Oh my god, to be in that building'. It's truly powerful."

This is the first edition of the WNBA Finals to be best-of-seven, but no team has ever won the NBA Finals, which have always used that format, after going three games down.

The Aces were 3-1 victors in the Finals in both 2022 and 2023, losing Game 3 on both occasions after surging into a two-game lead. 

"Under Becky, we had never won a Game 3. This was a must-win for us," Wilson said. "Just for that sake. 

"I feel like my mentality and the thing that I relayed to my team-mates was, 'We just need to win one'. If we win possessions, win the quarters, everything else will pan out."

Game 4 will take place on Friday in Phoenix.