LHispanic guard Diana Taurasi scored 25 points and this Sunday became the first player in the history of the Women’s Professional Basketball League (WNBA) to reach 9,000 points scored during her career and did so in the game that her Phoenix Mercury team beat Los Angeles Sparks 88-79.
The 39-year-old Taurasi returned to competition through the big door after missing five weeks due to injury, and finished with 25 points, including the two that put her in the history books as the first player to reach the milestone. 9,000 as many as professional.
The new brand for Taurasi, who had recovered from a sternum injury, came with a personnel shot that completed a three-point play after a layup penetration for the quarter of 29-29 and 8:23 minutes left in the second quarter. .
The next WNBA professional on the list of best scorers in league history is Tina Thompson (7,488 points), followed by Tamika Catchings (7,380) as the other two professionals who have reached 7,000 points.
Taurasi has had a memorable month for her as a professional, since before the historic basket, last week, she was named for the fifth time to the United States Olympic women’s basketball team that will compete in Tokyo 2020, where she will defend the medal Olympic gold.
Along with Taurasi, power forward Brittney Griner also stood out in the inside game with 22 points and eight rebounds, being the second top scorer for the Mercury who had four starters with two-digit numbers.
While forward Brianna Turner had eight goals (4 of 8 shots from the field), but captured 15 rebounds, including 14 that were defensive, gave two assists, recovered two balls and put a stopper, which left her figure of the game and of the team under the hoops.
Point guard Erica Wheeler hit back-to-back baskets to cap a Sparks 7-0 run and tie it (47-47) early in the third quarter, but Phoenix (7-7) scored 13 of the following 15 points that allowed him to return to the front of the scoreboard.
Taurasi made two 3-pointers in the final minute of the period to bring the Mercury’s lead to 14 points before the final period.
Wheeler led the Sparks (6-8) with 21 points and guard Te’a Cooper added 20 points.
Cooper, who scored 26 points in Thursday’s win over the Washington Mystics, has consecutive games of at least 20 points for the first time in his career.
The shooting guard, who played in Tennessee and South Carolina before finishing his college career at Baylor, was a second-round pick from Phoenix in the 2020 WNBA college draft, but was eliminated by the Mercury before signing with the Sparks. before the start of the season.
The match was the third consecutive game between the teams and their last regular meeting of the season.
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