Diana Taurasi (R) drives to the basket against Yuka Mamiya of Japan during the women's basketball quarterfinals at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 at Carioca Arena 1 on Aug. 16, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi became the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer on Sunday when her 19 points pushed her over the mark set by Tina Thompson.
Taurasi now has a total of 7,494 career points in 377 regular-season games, surpassing Thompson’s 7,488 in 496 games. Taurasi reached the mark late in the first half of the Phoenix Mercury’s game against the Los Angeles Sparks with a layup, after which the announcer signaled her achievement to a round of applause from the crowd.
Taurasi finished with 19 points in the game to lead both teams despite the Mercury’s 90-59 loss.
This record comes just two weeks after Taurasi passed leader Katie Smith (906) in the record books for most 3-pointers; Taurasi is now at 933.
Taurasi has won four Olympic gold medals with Team USA, going 32-0 in the process, since she first came off the bench in the Olympic Games Athens in 2004. She said in Rio last summer that 2016 would likely be her last Olympics, but recently has begun to change her tune. Earlier this month, after signing an extension with the Phoenix Mercury that lasts through 2020, Taurasi said that as long as she’s playing at a high level and deserves to be playing, she’ll always put in the jersey for Team USA.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
