Wednesday’s Atlanta Dream victory over the Phoenix Mercury was particularly special for 12-year WNBA veteran Tina Charles.
The Dream earned a commanding 72-63 win over the Mercury at Gateway Center Arena and in the fourth quarter, Charles moved to second on the WNBA’s all-time scoring list.
Charles, who scored 12 points, hit a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to score her 7,491st career point as she passed Tina Thompson (7,488).
Charles trails just Diana Taurasi (10,500), who plays for the Mercury and embraced Charles on the court after Charles passed Thompson.
Charles signed with the Dream in the offseason after not playing last year.
“I have a whole bunch of gratitude,” Charles said. “I know this moment is big but I have to give glory to my lord and savior Jesus Christ. I’m so much in awe of just how faithful he is, just where I was last year (not playing) and where I am today. It’s full-circle for me in my career for it to have been done alongside (Dream head coach) Tanisha (Wright), one of the most impactful teammates and people that I have in my life.
“I’m thankful to be on the court with Diana, to be in behind Diana and be in the same sentence. It’s unimaginable. I thought I was done playing last year. For me to be here right now, it’s just really special.”
After Charles reached the milestone, play was halted and Charles was mobbed by teammates at center court.
“I had a heads up of a stop play but I didn’t know about the celebration,” Charles said. “It was great.”
Charles and Wright were teammates on the New York Liberty from 2015-2016.
“Most of my favorite memories [with Charles] are practices,” Wright said. “We went in and practiced hard every single day. We competed hard in practice every single day. We were super-competitive to where if we didn’t win drills we wanted to do it again.”
Charles hit a last-second, game-winning shot to will the Dream over the Seattle Storm on Aug. 16 and tallied a game-high 22 points and 15 rebounds in Sunday’s win over Connecticut.
She was just getting started.
Not only did Charles move to second all-time in scoring on Wednesday, she also added a season-high 17 rebounds.
“I thought it was a good team win for us,” Wright said. “We didn’t shoot the ball well but I thought defensively we did some good things to help us get the win. I’m really proud of our defensive effort tonight.”
Atlanta set the tone early by outscoring the Mercury 19-6 in the first quarter. It was Phoenix’s lowest-scoring first quarter of the season and it was the fewest points Atlanta has allowed in a quarter this season.
“It’s just showing our growth and our focus,” Charles said. “Every time we go into the locker room before a game Tanisha has three things. It’s accountability, respect and toughness. Toughness for us today was consistency. Really good teams are very consistent in who they are. The identity, we’re growing and showing the league. We were just consistent defensively, offensively, sharing the ball, celebrating one another.”
The Dream dominated the boards, winning the rebounding battle 47-33. Atlanta had 16 offensive rebounds compared to Phoenix’s three.
“I thought that (rebounding) could be an advantage for us,” Wright said. “Especially because they play four guards. That was an emphasis and an opportunity for us to get extra scoring opportunities. I thought (Lorela Cubaj) in her minutes did a great job getting to the boards and getting us some extra looks. Obviously (Charles had) 17 rebounds tonight. It’s a good team effort.”
Six-foot-9 center Brittney Griner scored eight of her 14 points in the first half for Phoenix. She scored six second-half points. Griner had eight rebounds.
“We sent a double (team) to (Griner),” Wright said. “We have to do a better job in our next game doing our work early. We let her get too deep too many times. (Charles) will look at the film. The double helped a little bit. We’ll mix it in.”
The squad has won three games in a row for the first time since July of last season.
“I think everybody has bought in,” said Allisha Gray, who led her squad with 21 points. “We worked really hard during the Olympic break and it’s a great turnaround and it’s nice to have everybody back and healthy. That makes it even more enjoyable.”
Atlanta and Phoenix will have a rematch on Friday at Gateway Center Arena.
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