"I Was Feeling It": Inside Liz Cambage's Record-Setting 53-Point Game in Dallas

Tue, Jul 17, 2018, 10:02 PM
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Jeff Wong

53 points. 17-for-22 from the field. 15-for-16 from the free throw line. 4-for-5 from three-point range. 10 rebounds. Five blocks. Two assists. One steal.

That was Liz Cambage’s historic, otherworldly stat line on Tuesday afternoon as her Dallas Wings defeated the New York Liberty, 104-87. Cambage passed Riquna Williams’ WNBA record for points in a game – a previous mark of 51 points set on September 8, 2013 for the franchise formerly known as the Tulsa Shock.

“I love ‘bey bey,’” Cambage said of Williams, her former teammate. “She’s an awesome player, awesome girl. She actually sent me a message after the game which was really cool.”

But when asked about setting a new WNBA scoring record, Cambage had her focus on the Dallas Wings’ next opponent.

“I’m just really thinking about Washington, our next game,” she said. “It’s cool to set records but on to the next one.”

In fact, when Cambage hit a triple in the fourth quarter to set the new record, she didn’t even know she set the new mark.

“I didn’t realize it was the record until after the game,” she said. “I don’t even think about that stuff while I’m playing. When I got subbed off at the end, Karima [Christmas-Kelly] told me I had just beaten Williams’ record, I was like, ‘Okay, that’s cool.’”

She laughed. “That’s something I did today, I guess.”

What was remarkable was the fact that Cambage entered the game with five triples made on the season, and hit four on Tuesday alone.

“I was open a lot of the time,” Cambage said of her performance from deep. “I guess it’s something I have been working on – my outside game. Just try to free me up a little bit and I guess I was hot today, I was feeling it.”

Many angles can be used to look at Cambage’s performance for the ages. Maybe you can consider the fact she did all this without committing a single turnover. You can even call out that the last NBA player to put up at least 50 points and 10 rebounds while shooting over 75% from the field in a game was Michael Jordan (1996).

The list can go on and on: This game was her ninth double-double, she established a new season-high in blocks, etc. But one thing for certain is that Cambage’s performance will go down as one of the — if not the — greatest of all-time.

“I’ve had a bit of an emotional week,” Cambage said on her mindset heading into the game. “I just came in as calm as I could today and tried to be as zen as possible and I just didn’t want to get caught up in any of the other drama today and just focus on me.”

Cambage’s historic line has the basketball world buzzing and Cambage’s phone buzzing in the aftermath.

“I’ve already had a lot of the girls reach out [like] Candace Parker,” Cambage said. “It means a lot to see other players feeling it and wishing me well after a game like that.”

Cambage is cementing herself as one of the best centers in the WNBA, having an incredible season, ranking second in the WNBA in points per game (21.4 ppg), rebounds per game (9.2) and blocks per game (1.9). The Wings are also on a hot stretch of late, winning six of their last seven contests.

With today’s summer afternoon game being Kid’s Day in Dallas, thousands of kids from the next generation were on-hand to witness history. It’s an atmosphere Cambage enjoyed, but also a responsibility her and her fellow WNBA players shoulder.

“They were loud, they brought the energy today and I think we fed off that energy a little bit. It does mean a lot to have the youth fill a whole stadium,” Cambage said. “Hopefully we can be good role models for those kids growing up.”

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