Nneka Ogwumike Rolling into the Record Books


With their victory over the Chicago Sky on Tuesday night, the Sparks secured a 10-0 start to the season. It’s the best start in franchise history and a mark that would have been the best ever to start a WNBA season if not for the Lynx win a few hours earlier that boosted them to 11-0.

L.A.’s red-hot start comes with a red-hot streak from one of its star players.

Nneka Ogwumike, the former No. 1 overall Draft pick from Stanford, was the real-life manifestation of “Gamebreaker” mode over her past three contests. Just like in a video game, Ogwumike couldn’t miss, making 23 straight field goals in the Sparks’ three games from June 7-14. Her first miss came with her first shot in the second of half of Tuesday night’s matchup.

Ogwumike shattered the previous made buckets record which was 15, set by Taj McWilliams-Franklin for the Washington Mystics over three games in the course of early June 2008.

MOST CONSECUTIVE MADE FIELD GOALS / WNBA HISTORY

FGs Player Dates
23 Nneka Ogwumike June 7-14, 2016
15 Taj McWilliams-Franklin June 11-13, 2008
14 Candice Dupree June 10-12, 2010
14 Tammy Sutton-Brown June 1-8, 2002

 

The ridiculous three-game shooting stretch for Ogwumike is no anomaly either. The 6’2″ forward is shooting a scorching 70% from the field, which, if the season ended today, would be the highest shooting percentage in the history of the WNBA; the record for a full season is 67% (Tamika Raymond, 2003). Her almost inconceivable shooting percentage has led her to average 18.4 points per game, tops on the Sparks and fifth best in the league.

To put her deft shooting touch into an even greater context, the NBA record for shooting percentage from the field is 73%, set by Wilt Chamberlain in 1972-73.

Ogwumike’s stellar season, and in particular her three-game stretch, has the Sparks in prime position to challenge the Lynx as the top team in the WNBA. It also makes Tuesday, June 21st a special day for basketball fans. That’s when the Lynx and Sparks will put their undefeated records on the line in as highly an anticipated midseason game as the WNBA has ever seen.

It’s also when we may finally find out whether any team can slow Nneka Ogwumike down.

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