NEW YORK, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Power forward Tina Charles hit the team-high 21 points here on Tuesday to become the New York Liberty's all-time leading scorer with 3,249 points, despite Liberty's 78-73 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks marking the team's third consecutive defeat in the new WNBA season.
Born in 1988, Charles was the No. 1 pick in the 2010 WNBA Draft. She played for the Connecticut Sun from 2010 to 2013 before moving to Liberty in 2014. In the off-seasons from 2011 to 2018, Charles played in Turkey, Poland and China.
Charles said, "The record means a lot. I never imagined it. I'm just grateful to be able to play in New York."
Charles is averaging 22.7 points and 11 rebounds in the new WNBA season, despite Liberty having lost all three matches since the campaign began on May 24. They were beaten by the Indiana Fever home and away before today's loss to the Sparks.
Chinese center Han Xu, 19, who had been drafted by Liberty in April, sat on the bench throughout the game.
Han told Xinhua, "I'm a substitute here and still in the learning process. Today, I did not play but I still learned a lot from watching the game."
Liberty head coach Katie Smith told Xinhua after the game, "Han is great. She did a good job in the road game against Fever. And she is always ready to play."
Down by five late in the fourth, Chelsea Gray hit numerous clutch shots on the way to her career-high 29 points to lift the Sparks to a 78-73 road win.
