Diana Taurasi makes WNBA history as first player to reach 9,000 points

Diana Taurasi returned from a nine-game absence to score a game-high 25 points and make WNBA history as the host Phoenix Mercury defeated the Los Angeles Sparks 88-79 on Sunday, June 27 (Monday, June 28, Manila time).

Taurasi, who hadn’t played since May 21 because of a fractured sternum, became the first WNBA player to score 9,000 career points.

Brittney Griner added 22 points and 8 rebounds, Skyler Diggins-Smith scored 16, and Kia Nurse 13 for the Mercury (7-7).

Phoenix had lost four in a row before defeating the host Sparks, 80-66, in their last game on June 18.

Erica Wheeler scored 21 points, Te’a Cooper, who came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points in a win against Washington on Thursday, added 20, Brittney Sykes had 11, and Amanda Zahui B chimed in 10 for the short-handed Sparks (6-8), who used just eight players in the absence of injured Bria Holmes along with Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike.

Wheeler scored the first 4 points of the third quarter to tie the score at 47, but her teammates added just 2 points during the first six minutes of the period.

Brianna Turner, who finished with a game-high 15 rebounds, Taurasi, and Diggins-Smith each had a basket and an assist during a 13-2 run that gave the Mercury a 60-49 lead.

Los Angeles got within 8 points, but Taurasi completed the third-quarter scoring with a pair of three-pointers that gave Phoenix a 69-55 lead.

A Diggins-Smith three-point play gave the Mercury a commanding 78-59 lead.

The score was tied seven times and the lead changed hands three times before Cooper beat the buzzer with a jumper that gave Los Angeles a 26-24 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Taurasi surpassed the 9,000-point mark when she converted a three-point play that tied the score at 29 with 8:23 left in the second quarter.

The score was tied again at 34 and 40 before Taurasi had an assist and made a pair of free throws during a 7-0 Phoenix run.

Zahui B made a three-pointer that pulled the Sparks within 47-43 at halftime. – Rappler.com