Olivia Miles has been dominating the WNBA in her rookie season. The No. 2 overall pick is not only the clear frontrunner for ROTY but has also firmly inserted herself into the MVP conversation. But when the Minnesota Lynx locked horns with the Phoenix Mercury on Monday, it was a stretch on the Target Center bench that briefly caught a different side of that dominance. 

Olivia Miles was forced to the bench after picking up her fifth foul in the closely contested fourth quarter of the Minnesota Lynx’s victory over the Phoenix Mercury. Cameras caught her visibly frustrated making her way to the bench, a reaction which makes sense with a rookie season already carrying two technical fouls, one of which drew a $500 league fine after a chippy outing against the Portland Fire.

Reeve turned to Eliška Hamzová, a Czech guard the Lynx had elevated from a developmental deal to a seven-day contract just the week before, who scored eight points in nine minutes off an otherwise scoreless bench while Miles sat.

Still, whatever the case may have been, that frustration didn’t last very long.

With 3:37 left on the clock, Reeve put her rookie guard right back into the game. And instead of letting that moment get the better of her, Olivia Miles responded in the best way possible.  She scored 16 of her career-high 33 points in the fourth quarter alone, hitting three three-pointers in four possessions to help the Lynx erase a six-point deficit, finishing 10-of-16 from the field with eight assists in a 104-100 win. 

So, if you were to ask any fan, her brief time on the sidelines only delayed what was already shaping up to be a historic night, as she didn’t just walk away with a personal best. Miles also became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 400 points, 100 assists, and 100 rebounds in just 22 games. 

Speaking on the WNBA Showtime after the game, Miles said: “I was telling Cheryl (Reeve), “Please trust me.” She was like, “No, go sit.” I gotta stay disciplined there, and adjust to how the refs are calling the game… I knew I was going to go back (in the game) sooner rather than later, so I had to stay in it and make sure my team got what they needed out of me.”

Sure, the cameras caught a rare moment of frustration from Olivia Miles. But by the time the final buzzer sounded, nobody was talking about what she may have said on the bench. They were talking about another Lynx win, Miles’ career night, and another piece of WNBA history that now belongs to the 22-year-old.

And as Reeve described her late in June in a post-game conference — “she’s still navigating that space because she’s very very passionate.”