Hebard’s 22 points tie Alaska record for most in WNBA game

September 12, 2020

Ruthy Hebard

Ruthy Hebard of Fairbanks matched an Alaska record for most points scored in a WNBA game and came up huge defensively with a blocked shot inside the final minute of the game to help the Chicago Sky hold off the Dallas Wings 95-88.

The rookie forward poured in a career-high 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting to match the Alaska record set by Eagle River’s Kelsey Griffin in 2013 with the Connecticut Sun.

Here are the highest scoring WNBA games by an Alaskan:

22 Ruthy Hebard (Fairbanks) Chicago Sky 2020
22 Kelsey Griffin (Eagle River) Connecticut 2013
19 Jessica Moore (Palmer) Indiana 2009
17 Andrea Lloyd (Juneau) Minnesota 1999

Hebard’s 22 points came in her 22nd game. By comparison, Griffin posted her 22-point effort in her 125th game.

On the same night Hebard had her first 20-point game, the 6-foot-4 Alaskan also delivered her first signature defensive moment.

With her team nursing an 89-88 cushion late in the fourth quarter, Hebard blocked Arike Ogunbowale’s driving layup with 22.1 seconds left. She then secured the rebound, which led to free throws for the Sky that helped ice the win.

It was the second blocked shot of the game for the first-round draft pick out of the University of Oregon.

Hebard, of West Valley High fame, also grabbed eight rebounds and had career highs in free throws (4) and assists (2) in addition to her scoring.

She scored the first points of the game with a fastbreak layup at the 9:36 mark and scored the final points of the game with a pair of free throws with just 1.8 seconds left.

This was her fifth double-figure scoring night. Her previous career high of 12 points came two weeks ago against Indiana.

For Chicago (12-10), this game was the last of the regular season before the WNBA playoffs begin. The Sky have locked up the No. 6 seed and will play a single-elimination game against the No. 7 seed Connecticut.

The first two rounds of the playoffs feature single-elimination games. The semifinals and finals will be determined by a best-of-five series.