One of the greatest players in Sparks history now has one of the top accolades to match it.
On Friday against the Sky, Nneka Ogwumike passed Lisa Leslie to become the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. Ogwumike entered the game tied with Leslie atop the franchise’s scoring chart after scoring 23 points in a loss to the Lynx on Wednesday.
Early in the first quarter, Nneka drove from the wing and hit a pull-up jumper at the free throw line to break the record.
Leslie held the record at 6,263 points with Nneka securely in second place coming into the season. Ogwumike’s return to Los Angeles this offseason opened the door for her to finally pass Leslie. Candace Parker is a distant third behind the pair while DeLisha Milton-Jones and Mwadi Mabika are fourth and fifth, respectively.
Nneka has already secured a spot in the top five all-time in league history in scoring. The active trio of Tina Charles, DeWanna Bonner and Ogwumike make up the top four, in order, behind Diana Taurasi.
Ogwumike stormed out of the gates with a strong start to the season and has only gotten better as the season has progressed. In the last five games coming into Friday, Nneka averaged 21 points on 51.9% shooting from the field and 44% shooting from three, stepping up in the absence of Kelsey Plum.
On the year, she’s averaging 17.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and shooting 52.3% from the field and 40.2% from the 3-point line.
Ogwumike nearly broke the record in that aforementioned game in Minnesota. Needing 24 points to break the record coming into the game, she scored 23 points in a defeat to tie Leslie.
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