Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Brittney's Milestone WNBA Debut

In her WNBA debut game in the US Airways Center versus fellow rookie Elena Delle Donne and the Chicago Sky my Houston homegirl Brittney Griner did something that no other WNBA player in history has ever done. 

She dunked twice in a WNBA regular season game.  

 Lisa Leslie was the first to do so, Candace Parker the first to do it twice in her WNBA career, and there have been five players total prior to tonight to execute dunks in the WNBA's 16 seasons.

Brittney is the first to do it twice in a game.   The first one came with 7:52 left in the game and the second thunderous one came with 2:18 left in the game after she stole an errant pass and went to the rim two handed.




Despite the dunks and 17 points, 8 rebounds and four blocked shots in 27 minutes, the key stat for Griner was the third foul she picked up with 2:30 left in the first quarter.    It forced her to be a spectator for the rest of the first half as the Chicago Sky ran up a 24 point lead by halftime enroute to a 102-80 win.

Elena Delle Donne played a major role in building that big Sky halftime lead as the Mercury elected to guard her one on one.

The 6'5" Delle Donne, who routinely got triple teamed in college must have felt as though she received an early Christmas present and made the Mercury pay for their lack of basketball vision. 

Delle Donne ended her night with the sixth best debut by a WNBA rookie player with 22 points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots, was 2-2 from 3 point land and dished out two assists in a team-high 34 minutes.

But my Houston homegirl chalked this game up to being a learning experience and made a little WNBA history in the process despite the loss.

And yeah, the Team USA women are going to be fun to watch at the FIBA World Championships next year. 

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