ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — A’ja Wilson scored a season-high 37 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season and the Las Vegas Aces held off a late rally to beat the Dallas Wings 90-86 on Wednesday night.
Wilson, who had 34 points and 16 rebounds in a 104-102 win over Golden State on Saturday, finished 15 of 25 from the field to reach 30-plus points for the fourth time this season. Her 37 points tied for most points in a WNBA game this season.
Las Vegas created separation in the third quarter by going on an 18-2 run to build a 70-48 lead. The Aces scored 12 straight points during the run as Dallas went scoreless for three-plus minutes.
The Wings rallied in the fourth, opening on a 9-1 run to get within 73-61 on a 3-pointer by Paige Bueckers. Dallas added a 3-pointer on three straight possessions to cut its deficit to 86-82 with 1:04 left.
Bueckers made a baseline jumper with 26.5 seconds left to pull within 86-84, but Wilson was fouled while making a layup at the other end for a four-point lead. The Wings missed two 3-pointers and the Aces made their free throws.
Jewell Loyd added 14 points and Aaliyah Nye had 13 for Las Vegas (11-11). Jackie Young injured her right hip early in the fourth and did not return.
Bueckers scored 10 of her 20 points in the fourth and rookie JJ Quinerly added 17 for Dallas (6-17). Luisa Geiselsoder scored a career-high 14 points — all in the first half. Arike Ogunbowale was held to nine points on 3-of-12 shooting.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Las Vegas Aces guard Dana Evans (11) strips the ball from Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) drives against Dallas Wings center Li Yueru (28) during the second half of a WNBA basketball game in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) reacts to scoring during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Dallas Wings in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocracy saw protesters flood the streets in the country's capital and its second-largest city into Sunday, crossing the two-week mark as violence surrounding the demonstrations has killed at least 116 people, activists said.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But the death toll in the protests has grown, while 2,600 others have been detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Those abroad fear the information blackout will embolden hard-liners within Iran's security services to launch a bloody crackdown, despite warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump he's willing to strike the Islamic Republic to protect peaceful demonstrators.
Trump offered support for the protesters, saying on social media that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!” The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous U.S. officials, said on Saturday night that Trump had been given military options for a strike on Iran, but hadn’t made a final decision.
The State Department separately warned: “Do not play games with President Trump. When he says he’ll do something, he means it.”
Online videos sent out of Iran, likely using Starlink satellite transmitters, purportedly showed demonstrators gathering in northern Tehran's Punak neighborhood. There, it appeared authorities shut off streets, with protesters waving their lit mobile phones. Others banged metal while fireworks went off.
Other footage purportedly showed demonstrators peacefully marching down a street and others honking their car horns on the street.
In Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city, some 725 kilometers (450 miles) northeast of Tehran, footage purported to show protesters confronting security forces. Flaming debris and dumpsters could be seen in the street, blocking the road. Mashhad is home to the Imam Reza shrine, the holiest in Shiite Islam, making the protests there carry heavy significance for the country's theocracy.
Protests also appeared to happen in Kerman, 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Tehran.
Iranian state television on Sunday morning took a page from demonstrators, having their correspondents appear on streets in several cities to show calm areas with a date stamp shown on screen. Tehran and Mashhad were not included. They also showed pro-government demonstrations in Qom and Qazvin.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signaled a coming clampdown, despite U.S. warnings. Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with Iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge. The statement carried by Iranian state television said even those who “helped rioters” would face the charge.
Iran’s theocracy cut off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls on Thursday, though it allowed some state-owned and semiofficial media to publish. Qatar’s state-funded Al Jazeera news network reported live from Iran, but they appeared to be the only major foreign outlet able to work.
Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who called for protests Thursday and Friday, asked in his latest message for demonstrators to take to the streets Saturday and Sunday. He urged protesters to carry Iran’s old lion-and-sun flag and other national symbols used during the time of the shah to “claim public spaces as your own.”
Pahlavi’s support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some protests, but it isn’t clear whether that’s support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
