By DOUG FEINBERG
The Associated Press
About the only thing missing from Diana Taurasi’s record-setting day was a victory.
Taurasi became the WNBA’s career scoring leader in front of her family, friends and Kobe Bryant.
With her parents watching, Taurasi passed Tina Thompson on Sunday in the Phoenix Mercury’s 90-59 loss to the Sparks in Los Angeles.
“It’s pretty special I got to do it in front of my family on Father’s Day in LA,” said Taurasi, who finished with 19 points.
Taurasi came into the needing 14 points to break Thompson’s mark and the Mercury guard did it late in the first half on a layup with her team down big.
“Once I got the basket it was pretty cool,” she said. “I was trying not to think about, wanted it to happen and do it organically. It did. You think about all the great players you played with, all the games.”
Taurasi stands alone atop the league’s scoring list. She has 7,494 points and has averaged 19.9 points in her career.
She said in the weeks leading up to the historic points that she wasn’t thinking about the record.
After the basket, the game stopped and Taurasi was given a warm ovation from the crowd that included Bryant and his daughters as well as Taurasi’s.
“We had this planned on the schedule for quite some time,” Bryant said during an interview in-game. “It worked in our favor we could see a historical night.”
Bryant has always been impressed with how hard Taurasi works.
“To be that great for so many years is a testament to her work ethic and commitment to the game,” Bryant told ESPN . “Her intellect and sacrifice. She’s just a phenomenal athlete.”
Thompson, who played with Taurasi on a few Olympic and overseas teams, offered her congratulations.
“I am excited that it is Diana and it is my absolute pleasure to pass the torch on to her,” Thompson said. “She and I have shared so many amazing moments throughout our basketball careers, whether it was gold medals, championships or All-Star games. Diana is one of the best players to ever play the game and definitely one of my favorites. She has done amazing things and I am so grateful that I’ve been able to share many of those with her. I am really excited for Diana and I think she is going to blow that record out of the water.”
Taurasi, averaging 18.1 points this year, passed Tamika Catchings for second on the WNBA scoring list early this season. It only took the Mercury star 13 seasons to become the league’s top scorer. Thompson needed 17 years to achieve her total.
Earlier in the season, Taurasi set the career 3-pointer record, passing Katie Smith. Taurasi has 927 3-pointers.
She turned 35 this month and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. She recently signed an extension through 2020.
Wings 87, Mystics 83
WASHINGTON — Glory Johnson scored 16 of her season-high 27 points in the third quarter and Dallas closed on an 8-0 run to beat Washington.,
Skylar Diggins-Smith had 19 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and Theresa Plaisance and Allisha Gray each scored 12 points for Dallas (5-8). The Wings, who trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half, snapped a three-game skid.
Tayler Hill led Washington (7-4) with a season-high 21 points.
Fever 91, Sky 79
ROSEMONT, Ill. — Tiffany Mitchell scored a season-high 19 points and the Indiana Fever overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to beat Chicago.
Candice Dupree had 18 points, Erlana Larkins added a season-high 16, and Shenise Johnson had 14 for Indiana (6-6). Briann January had 10 points and seven assists.
Johnson’s putback of a missed layup by Erica Wheeler gave the Fever the lead for good and sparked a 10-0 that made it 79-69 midway through the fourth quarter.
Four Indiana players scored in that stretch as Johnson hit two technical free throws — the first coming when Chicago’s Stephanie Dolson argued an offensive foul with 7:33 to play and the second after Dolson was called for defensive 3-seconds nearly 90 seconds later.
Allie Quigley led Chicago (2-9) with 18 points. Tamera Young added 16 points, and Jessica Breland had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Indiana committed just four turnovers, while forcing 18, and won its first road game in six tries this season.
Storm 75, Stars 57
SEATTLE — Breanna Stewart had 22 points, a season-high 15 rebounds and a career-best five blocked shots and the Seattle beat winless San Antonio to snap a three-game skid.
Crystal Langhorne added 10 points, and Sue Bird had nine assists for Seattle (6-5).
Langhorne made a short jumper, and Bird hit a 3 to spark a 12-3 run that made it 27-18 midway through the second quarter and the Storm led the rest of the way.
Stewart sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a basket by San Antonio’s Erika de Souza and then hit a jumper to ignite a 14-5 spurt that gave Seattle a 51-36 lead with 1:54 left in the third and the Stars trailed by double figures the rest of the way.
Kayla McBride led San Antonio (0-11) with 11 points.
The Stars shot just 28.8 percent from the field and were held to their lowest scoring output of the season. They have lost 13 in a row, dating to last season.
San Antonio rookie Kelsey Plum, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 WNBA draft, returned to Seattle where she starred at the University of Washington and set NCAA records for points in a career (3,397) and season (1,080). Plum matched her season high with eight points.
