![]() She said that she just hoped that it would go in and I knew she was going to make it, so I'm glad she did and that kind of was a cool moment, really amazing moment in the arena.An impressive 15 former UConn women’s basketball players made WNBA rosters ahead of the regular season’s opening weekend. "Nah, I just knew she was going to hit it. Guard Sug Sutton passed Griner the ball as she came down the court as the trailer. ![]() "It took me back to my last season playing. "That moment was very special, honestly," Griner said. ![]() She hit a 3-pointer - just the seventh of her career - with 38.2 seconds left to pull the Mercury within 58-53, and yelled "I'm back" while celebrating. Griner's defining play Sunday came late in the third quarter. Griner complemented her 27 points and 10 rebounds with four blocks and an assist. She was 8-for-11 on contested field goals and 7-for-10 off the dribble and she scored 14 points from the post, according to ESPN Stats & Information. She completed the three-point play and, in the process, capped an emotional - and loud - stretch to start the game.įrom there, Griner's presence was felt time and time again, and she showed few signs of residual rust from the preseason. Griner made a move to the middle, went up-and-under, hit the layup and was fouled. Just 14 seconds in, after Griner won the tipoff and knocked the ball back to Diana Taurasi, Taurasi returned it to Griner in the post. By the end, the emotion throughout the building was raw, visible and at a peak. The entire pregame ceremony lasted about seven minutes. And they didn't stop growing for a long time. The moment Griner emerged, the cheers grew. I mean, isn't that the Mercury way?"Īfter her poem, the entire Mercury roster was introduced. On December 8th, when it finally broke the news that our X Factor was free, that our X Factor was safe, that our X Factor survived Regardless what she faced. Together, we watched our blues turn into different hues. "On planet Mercury, dreams come true," Tatum started. The lights then went dark and Jay Tatum, a spoken word artist from Phoenix, began reciting a poem she wrote specifically for Griner's home return Sunday afternoon. The pregame ceremony began with video showing clips of Griner from throughout the pregame activities on Sunday spliced with photos from her past few weeks. Once the festivities began, it was hard to find many who weren't on their feet. Former NBA guard and ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose was at the game, along with Olympic swimmer Simone Manuel and Phoenix Suns players Ish Wainright and Damion Lee. At one point, she and Sky coach James Wade shared a hug and a spoke for a few minutes. Like in her preseason game and season opener, Griner was inundated with hugs and well-wishes during pregame warmups. The 14,040 fans in attendance were believed to be the largest Mercury crowd since 1998. The entire lower bowl of Footprint Center was sold out, forcing the team to sell seats in the upper deck. Griner's return to home was as much a celebration as it was a game. 13, 2021, during the WNBA Finals against the same Sky team she faced in her first game back in Arizona after missing the 2022 season while she was detained in a Russian prison for 10 months. Griner had last played in a competitive game in her home arena on Oct. "So just having them here, just spending time with them, playing in front of them. So, just having everybody here right now and, like I said before, didn't know when that was going to happen, if it would happen, depending on how long it was, it could have been a lot different. ![]() "I don't think I've played in front of everybody in one place, honestly, since high school, honestly. Sunday was also the first time Griner played in front of her parents in more than a decade, another part of a milestone game that made her emotional. Even coach Vanessa Nygaard admitted after the game that she teared up as well. She tried to hide her emotions but wiped away a tear just before the opening tip.
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