The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Taurasi remains a fierce competitor
Former Husky had vintage performance in loss to Sun
UNCASVILLE » The last time Diana Taurasi stepped foot inside Mohegan Sun Arena, she missed six of her eight field-goal attempts and had eight turnovers as her Phoenix Mercury team never stood a chance against the host Connecticut Sun. It didn’t take long on Friday night to realize that Taurasi was on the verge of a vintage offensive performance.
Taurasi, who has had her share of quiet offensive games in previous returns to Connecticut, clearly had it going from the opening tip. After missing her first shot, Taurasi hit four straight jumpers including a 3-pointer and by game’s end had 33 points. But even with her offensive brilliance, Phoenix was on the wrong end of a onepoint game.
“It’s always great to come back here and play,” Taurasi said. “They have a young and talented team this year so it was fun out there.”
This was Taurasi’s first trip to Connecticut since she became the leading scorer in WNBA history moving by Tina Thompson.
“It is the funniest one to get, even when I was in school I wasn’t a big scorer,” Taurasi said. “I was more of a distributor. My first two years, I played point in the WNBA, so I didn’t score a ton of points. I think once (Paul) Westhead got to Phoenix, he put me off the ball and said we need to generate offense, that is when I kind of took off. It is pretty cool when you get on the list with Tina, Catch and these great players in
women’s basketball so it is definitely an honor.
“I didn’t know she (Thompson) was there for one. I didn’t know until she stepped on the court, I looked up. To see her and Dyllan (Thompson’s son) who I spent a lot of time with in Russia and the national team, it means a lot coming from her because she was a pioneer when the game was just getting started in the WNBA, she put a lot of work into it.”
When Taurasi set the record, the Mercury were getting blown out and when they stopped the game to present her with the ball, it looked like Taurasi was going to get physically ill.
“She felt like she looked, I am surprised they stopped the game to honor (me) on the road when are down 20,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “You could imagine what she was thinking at that time so she takes the ball, fires it back to somebody and walks back. Then she almost got thrown out, she is disgusted with the way this game is going, typical Diana, I am not surprised. I am not surprised she did it, I am not surprised one iota. I think she was the best player every time she stepped onto the floor in high school, she was the best player every time she stepped onto the court in college and with very few exceptions if any, she is the best player when she steps on the floor in the pros, in the World Championships, in the Olympics, it doesn’t matter.”
Taurasi won three national titles at UConn, three WNBA titles and four Olympic gold medalists so she is accustomed to winning. Setting the record in a game when Phoenix was being blown out didn’t have Taurasi in the mood for a celebration.
“I wanted to kick the ball into the stands. I have a good left foot just like Messi,” Taurasi said.
Taurasi has never been one to focus on individual statistics, but she admits that moving atop the list was special.
“You sit back a little bit and consider yourself really lucky,” Taurasi said. “I feel like I am lucky to have played for Phoenix for my whole career, to get to play with Penny (Taylor), Cappie (Pondexter), DeWanna (Bonner), all these great players so I have been lucky more than anything.”
Speaking of Taylor, Taurasi reflected on her marriage to her former Mercury teammate.
“Once you get married, it is a different type of commitment,” Taurasi said. “Penny and I know each other for so long, we have been through so much stuff that it felt right.”
Taurasi had a career low field-goal percentage of 39.6 last season and before Friday’s huge game, she was making 39 percent this season.
She said there are times when she feels every bit like a 35-year-old who entered the WNBA in 2004, but she certainly did not look like a player in the twilight of a Hall of Fame career against the Sun as she was 12 of 18 from the field as she recorded her fourth 30-point game of the season.
“She talks a lot of trash, she is a great player and I’ve always respected her game and respected her as a player and a person,” said Sun guard Alex Bentley, who guarded Taurasi for much of the game. “It is really fun, she makes it fun. I like people who talk. A lot of people in the league kind of get a little sensitive but she is not one of them.
“She is a great scorer, she has been doing it for a long time now. I try to make it as tough on her as I could but she is DT.”
Phoenix will return to Mohegan Sun Arena on Aug. 20.