Charlisse Leger-Walker has reached the next level.
In a 21-minute stint for the Connecticut Sun on Saturday morning, the 24-year-old point guard from Hamilton has officially become the second New Zealander to play in the WNBA.
Leger-Walker, deployed as the first player off the bench, scored four pointson debut, shooting 2-9 from the floor, with two rebounds and an assist in a 106-75 loss against the New York Liberty at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn.
Entering the game about halfway through the first quarter, it didn’t take the Kiwi rookie long to get involved as she got her first shot up almost immediately.
Her first points came a couple of minutes later as she made a strong cut to the hoop and finished through contact for a potential three-point play, though she missed the ensuing free throw.
Leger-Walker was back on the scoresheet late in the third quarter when she got a reverse layup to drop.
Charlisse Leger-Walker scored four points on debut. Photo / Getty Images
The Sun, who are in their final season playing in Connecticut with a move to Houston scheduled for 2027, struggled to contain Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, with the two-time WNBA MVP scoring 31 points and collecting 10 rebounds. The Liberty were also without star guard Sabrina Ionescu, who is recovering from an ankle injury.
Leger-Walker became the first New Zealand player to feature in a WNBA game since Megan Compain, who played five times for the Utah Starzz in 1997.
Leger-Walker was, however, the first Kiwi to be drafted by a WNBA team when she was selected by the Sun with this year’s 18th pick. Compain joined Utah as a free agent.
Being selected in the draft came days after Leger-Walker won the national collegiate championship with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins. She was one of six players in the champion Bruins squad selected in the WNBA draft.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
