DiJonai Carrington has been the talking point on and off the court lately. In Sky’s last game against the Fever, she scored eight points in four minutes from the bench and ended up being ejected for a flagrant 2 foul for making significant contact with Sophie Cunningham’s head and neck and knocking her to the court. And now, just in the next game against Seattle Storm, she once again came off the bench (this time for 27 minutes) and ended up turning it into something historic.
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DiJonai Carrington let her game do all the talking as she scored a career-high 26 points against the Seattle Storm on Monday at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, while adding 6 rebounds and 5 steals in her season-best game.
Underdog WNBA on X noted that Carrington became the first player in WNBA history to record 25+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ steals in a game while coming off the bench. Despite being limited to just 27 minutes, she became only the second player this season, after reigning MVP A’ja Wilson, to achieve that stat line.
Ironically, with this win, Carrington matches one of Sophie Cunningham’s stats days after things got heated between them on the court…
Carrington is now the first WNBA guard to produce these numbers in a game since Sophie Cunningham in 2022.
However, the sad part is that DiJonai Carrington’s WNBA record-setting performance fell short as Seattle Storm’s Dominique Malonga also scripted WNBA history in the same game.
Malonga powered her team to a 97-88 win, finally snapping their 11-game skid that started on July 9. And with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks, she is now the youngest player with three straight 20-point games. Additionally, the 20-year-old became the youngest player to reach 300 career rebounds.
But if it’s any compensation, Carrington remained the most talked-about player from the game, especially after two of her moments made rounds on social media…
DiJonai Carrington’s unmissable moments from the game against Storm
Carrington entered the game with a little over five minutes left on the clock in the first quarter. And the moment she checked in, fans in the stadium gave her an ovation, celebrating her entry with loud cheers as heard on the stream.
Fox Reporter Jon Root even reacted to this with, “Chicago Sky G DiJonai Carrington received a loud applause as she checked into the game vs Seattle tonight… Sickening.”
The second moment unfolded after Azura Stevens set a hard screen, making Natisha Hiedeman bump into her, completely blindsided and reeling on the floor. DiJonai Carrington then went on to check on Hiedeman and planted a kiss on Hiedeman’s forehead, marking a kind gesture she made toward her opponent.
Overall, DiJonai Carrington gave it her all in the game. She helped Chicago narrow the lead to just two points when the scoreline reflected 84-82 with a little over three minutes remaining. However, Seattle held on, with Malonga continuing to be the silver lining for them
“We were fed up,” Malonga told reporters after winning the game, while Seattle’s head coach Sonia Raman sang the forward’s praises. “Dom continues to be a walking double-double. Just the improvement that we’ve seen from her this season is incredible.”
Seattle will now look to sustain this momentum, aiming for another win against the Portland Fire on Friday. Meanwhile, Chicago faces a tough assignment as they face the Golden State Valkyries next on Wednesday.
Although this game did not go in Sky’s favor, DiJonai Carrington remained the most talked about person in it. Her return to form gives the team a chance to make a late push for the playoffs. After all, she has only featured in five games this season, missing significant game time due to ankle surgery and a foot injury.