Wings center Liz Cambage dominated in Dallas’ victory over the New York Liberty on Tuesday, setting a WNBA record in the process.
The Wings’ center procured a league record of 53 points in her team’s 104-87 win. With her team comfortably ahead, Cambage set the record with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc in the game’s final minute.
Cambage has exceeded the previous WNBA single-game record, 51 points by the Tulsa Shock’s Riquna Williams in 2013, with an unimaginable shooting performance that included 17-of-22 from the field, 15-of-16 from the free-throw line, and 4-of-5 from 3-point land. She also added 10 rebounds and five blocks to help her team improve to 12-9 on the year. It was her ninth double-double of the season.
Before halftime, the 6-foot-8 Cambage put up 28 points before adding 25 more in the second.
Cambage had previous stints in the WNBA, suiting up for the Tulsa World in both 2011 and 2013. However, most of her professional career has been played in her native Australia with high-paying stops in China.
She was drafted No. 2 overall behind Moore in 2011 by Tulsa, but she played just two seasons there; 2011 and 2013. She had an Achilles injury in 2014 and did not play in the WNBA in 2015-17.
In February, Cambage signed a multi-year deal to return to the WNBA, this time with Dallas. Entering Tuesday’s game, she was averaging 19.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, good for seventh and second-best in the league, respectively.
“I’ve had big numbers in China, I’ve had big numbers in Australia. I’ve had a lot of people say I can’t have big numbers here in the WNBA,” she said after the game. “I guess this one is for y’all.”