Lisa Leslie is one of the greatest women’s basketball players to have ever played the game, winning the WNBA’s MVP award three times and the championship twice. She also dominated at the Olympics, winning 4 gold medals for the USA. Leslie had a plethora of achievements throughout her career but one of the most impressive ones occurred when she was still in high school in 1990.
In Inglewood, California, playing for Morningside High School, Leslie dropped 101 points in a single half of basketball. She played 16 minutes and made 37 of 56 field goals. To add to this, Leslie made 27 of 35 free throws. The beatdown was so brutal, that it led the South Torrance High School team to leave the gym after halftime, refusing to come back onto the court.
The crazy situation is that Leslie was just 5 points away from breaking the record for most points scored in a high school basketball game. This had been set by Cheryl Miller in 1982 when she dropped 105 points. Such was Leslie’s desire to get the record, that she asked the South Torrance coach after destroying his team if they would play the second half so she could get the three field goals she needed to break the record (via The Athletic).
“I asked the coach before they left if they would let me score three more baskets,” Leslie told the Los Angeles Times.
The coach refused and his team left the court, with no plans of making a return. Their decision to walk away saw them earn a couple of delay of game penalties which led to Leslie scoring 4 more free throws. However, even though this would have tied Miller’s record, those foul shots weren’t counted when it became apparent that the opposition had forfeited the game.
While Leslie fell short of tying the record at the time, she would go on to achieve much greater success in her career. Along with her other major accomplishments, Leslie made the All-WNBA First Team 8 times during her career as well as winning Defensive Player of the Year twice. Considering that she managed 100 points in one half though, it does beg the question of just what she could have accomplished that day if the other team hadn’t simply left the game.
Credit for the idea: The Athletic
