LOOK: A'ja Wilson Gives Zia Cooke Her "Welcome To The WNBA" Moment

South Carolina Women's Basketball alums Zia Cooke and A'ja Wilson were both involved in a viral moment in their matchup on Saturday night.

South Carolina's Women's Basketball program has become renowned for its player development during Dawn Staley's tenure, evidenced by the Gamecocks' five draft picks in the WNBA Draft this past April. One of those picks was guard Zia Cooke, who went 10th overall to the LA Sparks and has quickly become a key role player for the franchise, averaging 17.33 minutes played per game in her first three contests.

On Saturday night, however, Zia Cooke was on the receiving end of what many would describe as her "Welcome To The WNBA" moment, something that every athlete experiences at some point in the early stages of their career in their respective sport. Zia's moment will be more memorable because it wasn't just any WNBA player who delivered that moment; it was the reigning WNBA Champion and MVP and former South Carolina Gamecock superstar in A'ja Wilson.

It all took place late in the third quarter when Zia was the recipient of an outlet pass in the fast break, which she decided to try to take to the basket at the other end, only for A'ja to... well, I'll the video below speak for itself.

SC on SC ‼️@_ajawilson22 gets the best of this one with the big time block 🚫

📺 @NBATV pic.twitter.com/kZhWEHMaWi

— WNBA (@WNBA) May 28, 2023

The look on Zia's face after the whole play unfolded said everything fans would want to know regarding how she felt about her layup attempt being sent into the seats. As this play circulated, comedic responses flowed in from many people, including South Carolina's Women's Basketball coach Dawn Staley. A'ja responded the only way she knew how.

https://t.co/O8e27mWocf pic.twitter.com/TIgHgpCRXd

— A'ja Wilson (@_ajawilson22) May 28, 2023

Zia had her own response to the viral moment, which included a combination of self-deprecation and self-efficacy regarding her fast break attempt.

I had to go down there at least once to see what it’s like down 😂 but y’all gotta know I’ll do it againnn 🤷🏽‍♀️ https://t.co/unDyi9hpa5

— Zia Cooke (@zia_cooke) May 28, 2023

In most cases, Gamecock fans would probably prefer that former players don't end up going at each other in their respective sport. In this case, everyone can come away from this clip having a good laugh, including Cooke, who is undoubtedly already coming up with some counters to lessen the likelihood of this happening again.

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