Dec 27, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Mercury player Diana Taurasi in attendance of the Phoenix Suns game against the Dallas Mavericks at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Diana Taurasi retirement: Top 5 highest-scoring games in Diana Taurasi’s WNBA career

Diana Taurasi’s top-scoring games in WNBA history.

Diana Taurasi has announced her retirement from WNBA. After 20 seasons, three WNBA titles, and a record 10,646 points, she’s walking away. No farewell tour, no drawn-out goodbyes – just a quiet decision, made in January, that she wasn’t going to put her body through another season.

After 20 years of playing in the WNBA, Diana Taurasi is officially retiring 🧡

Thank you Diana for changing the game forever, all of the accolades could never amount to the type of person and edge you embodied when you stepped out there on the court

One-of-One 💐 pic.twitter.com/dEtE4NDrGH
— WNBA (@WNBA) February 25, 2025

At 42, she leaves the game as its greatest scorer, the player who redefined WNBA longevity. She wasn’t just dominant in her prime—she was dropping 20-point games in her 40s like it was nothing. From breaking the 10,000-point barrier to clutch playoff performances, Taurasi’s legacy is built on moments. These are her five biggest scoring nights—the games that proved she was different.

2006: Career-high 47 points against the Houston Comets

At 24 years old, Taurasi delivered the best scoring night of her career, dropping 47 points on the Houston Comets in a 111-110 win. She shot 17-for-33 from the field, including 8-for-16 from deep. This was peak Taurasi—hitting impossible shots, carrying the Mercury, and refusing to lose.

No other game in her career matched this scoring total. It remains one of the highest single-game performances in WNBA history.

2021: 37 points against the Las Vegas Aces in the playoffs

Fifteen years after her 47-point game, Taurasi reminded everyone she was still built for big moments. In Game 2 of the semifinals against the Aces, she torched Las Vegas for 37 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including 8-of-11 from three.

At 39 years old, she was nearly matching her age in points. And she did it while her wife, former Mercury star Penny Taylor, was about to give birth to their second child.

2009: 34 points in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals

The Mercury’s 2009 championship run was Taurasi at her most dominant. She had already put up 30 points against San Antonio in the first round, then 21 against the Sparks to send Lisa Leslie into retirement.

But in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals against the Indiana Fever, she took it up another level—34 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and a game-changing presence in a 120-116 victory. Phoenix went on to win the series in five, with Taurasi taking home her first Finals MVP.

2014: 31 points to eliminate the Minnesota Lynx

By 2014, the Lynx had built a dynasty, but Taurasi and the Mercury weren’t interested in playing second fiddle. In Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, she put up 31 points, including 13 straight at one point, to take out Minnesota.

She shot 12-for-17 from the field, controlled the game, and led Phoenix to the Finals. The Mercury went on to sweep Chicago for their third championship, with Taurasi winning another Finals MVP.

2007: 30 points in the WNBA Finals to force Game 5

Phoenix had never won a WNBA title before 2007. The Detroit Shock had a chance to finish them off in Game 4, but Taurasi wasn’t letting that happen. She dropped 30 points in a 98-70 blowout to force a deciding Game 5.

She drilled seven threes, carried the offense, and set the stage for the Mercury’s first championship. That season, she officially cemented herself as the face of the franchise.

The Finals performances, the elimination games, the impossible shots. And the fact that even when she could’ve walked away, she stayed. Because there was always one more game to win.

Image: Imagn Images

Diana Taurasi

Natasha Bose

I write about sports because, well, it brings in the big bucks! I’m not some lifelong analyst or stats guru, truth being told, you’ve probably never heard of me!—I just know how to research, write, and make things sound good. That’s the job!
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