Angel Reese just added another milestone to what is becoming a pretty convincing case as one of the WNBA's rising stars.

The Dream forward put together a career night against the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday, delivering a stat line no player in franchise history has ever matched.

"Angel Reese vs Phoenix: 31 PTS (career-high), 14 REB, 4 STL, the first player in franchise history with those numbers in a game," StatMuse posted on X.

The 31 points came on a career night, and Reese paired them with 14 rebounds, four steals, and two assists as Atlanta beat Phoenix 99-89 at PHX Arena, according to Paolo Songco of Athlon Sports. 

It was the Dream's third straight road win, and it did more than pad her resume. The victory clinched Atlanta a playoff spot and pushed the team past the Indiana Fever into the No. 4 seed with seven games left on the schedule.

Atlanta now sits at 24-13, half a game ahead of Indiana and just 1.5 games behind the No. 3 seed Las Vegas Aces. Reese's fingerprints are all over that push. 

Two nights earlier against the Los Angeles Sparks, she became just the second player in WNBA history to reach 25 double-doubles in a single season, joining Alyssa Thomas.

She is now three double-doubles away from breaking Thomas's single-season record of 28.

In that same Sparks game, a 124-88 Dream win, Reese put up 20 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, and three steals while shooting a perfect field-goal percentage, becoming only the third player in league history to post a 20-and-10 double-double on 100 percent shooting. 

She also broke her own single-season offensive rebounding record, pushing her total to 175 and counting, and became the first player in WNBA history to record a 15-point, five-rebound, five-assist line on a perfect shooting first half.

Angel Reese's growth is making the superstar case harder to ignore

The numbers are impressive on their own, but Reese's recent comments suggest there is more behind the surge than a few big performances.

Asked about the historic Sparks performance on WNBA Nightcap on Prime Video, Reese pointed to preparation rather than talent alone.

"My work trusting my work all year, just being able to stay focused, stay dialed in," she said.

She also named the exact part of her game she has been rebuilding.

"My threes, I've been working on them with Karl every day, every night, all the time," Reese said, as per @ShowCaseShabazz X handle. "So just trying to trust my work and just staying poised."

That work is showing up in ways that go beyond her usual rebounding and hustle. The eight assists against Los Angeles and the career-high 31 points against Phoenix suggest Reese is becoming more involved as an offensive creator, too.

That matters for her superstar case because Atlanta is not simply getting big numbers from Reese. The Dream are winning while her game continues to expand.

Reese is chasing a single-season double-double record, helping Atlanta secure a playoff spot and showing more of her offensive game with every big performance.

If she keeps producing like this while helping the Dream win, the question of whether she is becoming the WNBA's next superstar may not remain a question for much longer.

Do you think Angel Reese is the next WNBA superstar? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Rudra Dubey