A'ja Wilson becomes 1st WNBA player to reach 1,000 points in a season as Aces top Sun

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A’ja Wilson became the first WNBA player to score 1,000 points in a season when she finished with 29 in the Las Vegas Aces' 84-71 win over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday.

Wilson hit a pull-up from the elbow with 2 minutes left in the game to reach the mark. Earlier this week, the Aces' star broke the single-season scoring record that Jewell Loyd set last year. Las Vegas called timeout about 30 seconds later and her teammates mobbed Wilson.

She then went out on the court and acknowledged a loud ovation from the crowd, clapping her hands.

The Aces (25-13) hold a one-game lead over Seattle for the No. 4 seed in the playoffs and home-court advantage in that series. Las Vegas has won seven of its last eight games.

Connecticut (27-11) trails the Minnesota Lynx by two games for the No. 2 seed. The two teams play in Connecticut on Tuesday.

The Sun made just 4 of 16 from the field — 0 of 5 from 3-point range — in the third quarter as the Aces stretched an eight-point lead at halftime to 71-51 going into the fourth. Young’s pull-up jumper midway through the period made it 58-47 and Las Vegas led by double figures the rest of the way. Wilson was dominant at both ends, making 6 of 8 from the field and both of her 3-point shots while scoring 14 points with four rebounds and two blocks in the third quarter.

Marina Mabrey led the Sun with 18 points. Brionna Jones added 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting and nine rebounds and Tyasha Harris scored 16 points.

Jones is averaging 20.1 points per game on 66% (59 of 89) shooting in seven games during the month of September.

Kelsey Plum, who finished with 14 points, hit a 3-pointer to five the Aces the lead for good and spark an 11-1 run that made it 48-40 when she capped the spurt with a step-back jumper to close the first half.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) celebrates during the second half of an WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas.(Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) poses after an WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas.(Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson, center, celebrates with teammates after an WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson, center, celebrates with teammates after an WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. Wilson scored 29 points in the game to become the first WNBA player in WNBA history to reach 1,000 points in a regular season. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) celebrates during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) signs autographs for fans after an WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) poses after an WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas.(Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) celebrates with her parents Roscoe and Eva Wilson after an WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson laughs during warmups before a WNBA basketball game against the Las Vegas Aces, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas (25) is fouled as she tries to shoot between Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) and guard Jackie Young (0) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) celebrates after making a basket during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Connecticut Sun head coach Stephanie White reacts during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Las Vegas Aces, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray (12) drives around Connecticut Sun forward DeWanna Bonner (24) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon, left, talks with assistant coach Natalie Nakase during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas (25) shoots against Las Vegas Aces center Kiah Stokes (41) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) shoots between Connecticut Sun forwards Alyssa Thomas (25) and DeWanna Bonner (24) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces center Megan Gustafson (17) shoots a layup against Connecticut Sun forward DeWanna Bonner (24) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) shoots over Connecticut Sun forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa (10) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new sex crime charge in New York, as he awaits retrial in his landmark #MeToo case.

A new indictment charged the jailed ex-movie mogul with committing a criminal sex act, accusing him of forcing oral sex on a woman at some point between April 29, 2006, and May 6 of that year.

Weinstein has long maintained that he never engaged in any sexual activity that wasn't consensual.

No details about the new accuser were released.

“Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. The Democrat added that the investigation continues.

Weinstein lawyer Arthur Aidala said he had “absolutely no clue” about the accuser's identity or the specifics of the allegation.

“We have a lot of work to do. We have to find out who that person is. We have to do an investigation,” he said outside court.

Weinstein “never forced himself on anyone,” the attorney said.

The 72-year-old Weinstein, who is recovering from emergency surgery, came to court in a wheelchair, carrying two novels with him. He appeared to watch the proceeding intently.

Prosecutors revealed last week that Weinstein had been indicted on additional sex crime charges that weren’t part of the case that led to his now-overturned 2020 conviction. But the new indictment was sealed until his arraignment.

Prosecutors have said that the grand jury heard evidence of up to three alleged assaults — two in hotels in the Tribeca neighborhood and one at a lower Manhattan residential building. The purported incidents took place from the mid-2000s to 2016, prosecutors said.

It's not clear whether those include the allegation that underlies the new indictment, nor what the grand jury made of what it heard about any claims beyond the one the indictment describes.

Aidala said Weinstein was “somewhat relieved” to find only one charge on the new indictment.

While bracing for the new charges, Weinstein also is awaiting retrial after New York state’s highest court this spring overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and criminal sex act charges involving two women. The high court, called the Court of Appeals, ordered a new trial.

It has been tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12, though it's likely to be delayed. Judge Curtis Farber set an Oct. 2 hearing to discuss scheduling.

Aidala said Weinstein wants to go to trial as soon as possible, but his defense team didn't want to rush its work on addressing the new charge.

The Court of Appeals ruled that the then-trial judge unfairly allowed testimony based on allegations that were not part of the case. That judge's term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.

Prosecutors want to fold the new charges into the retrial, but Weinstein’s lawyers say it should be a separate case. Farber plans to rule Oct. 2 on that issue.

Weinstein, who also was convicted in 2022 in a Los Angeles rape case, remains behind bars while awaiting his New York retrial.

Weinstein has been at a Manhattan hospital following emergency surgery Sept. 9 to drain fluid around his heart and lungs. He takes as many as 19 different medications for his various health ailments, Aidala said.

A judge agreed last week to let Weinstein remain indefinitely in the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital instead of being transferred back to the infirmary ward at New York's Rikers Island jail complex.

Once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, Weinstein co-founded the film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company and produced films such as “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Crying Game.”

Harvey Weinstein appears in criminal court in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)

Harvey Weinstein, center, appears in criminal court in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)

Harvey Weinstein, center, appears in criminal court in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)

Harvey Weinstein appears in criminal court in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)

Harvey Weinstein, center, appears in criminal court in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)

Harvey Weinstein, center, appears in criminal court in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)

Harvey Weinstein appears in criminal court in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)

FILE - Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan Criminal Court, May 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, Pool, File)