UNCASVILLE — Rachel Banham was all smiles after her historic shooting performance on Sunday.
Banham scored 24 points off the bench, all from beyond the arc, in the Connecticut Sun’s 96-69 victory over the Phoenix Mercury. In setting a new career-high and tying the franchise record with eight three-pointers made in a game, the ninth-year guard also broke the WNBA record for the most three-pointers made off the bench.
“I just feel like I’ve been waiting for this,” Banham said after the game. “(My teammates) know that I’ve been frustrated with not hitting my shots, but it feels good, I’m confident, I’m ready, I stay in the gym, so I knew my time was coming. I’m just wishing it was sooner, but it felt really good to kind of feel like myself and really be in a rhythm and get to stay out there.”
Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White recalled another time she witnessed Banham make history on a basketball court.
“In my other job (as a broadcast analyst), when Rachel (Banham) was in college (at Minnesota) I called a game, I think she scored (60) points at Northwestern,” White said. “She is and can be a volume scorer. In the W, she’s mostly been a volume shooter, as opposed to always (being) a playmaker. She hunts the right shots, she’s got a quick release, she’s always set, she’s always ready.
“Over the last days, when we’ve been shooting, the lift on (Banham’s) shot has been really good and certainly when you see the first one go in, you feel pretty good.”
Banham was the fourth overall pick by the Sun in the 2016 WNBA Draft, playing in Connecticut for four full seasons before joining the Minnesota Lynx in a sign-and-trade deal, where she spent the next four years playing before returning to the Constitution State.
“(Connecticut is) a special place for me,” Banham said. “… coming back to where I started, I’ve just always loved the fans here in the organization and the people in it.
“I’ve played with some of the girls already but I never got a chance to play with (DiJonai Carrington) or (Tyasha Harris) but I knew that they are awesome (and) goofy so I was like ‘I’m going to fit right in’ and it’s been great.”
Carrington highlighted how helpful Banham’s leadership has been to the team and how she has brightened the Sun’s locker room since returning to Connecticut.
“The impact that she’s had on this team, whether she’s in the game off the court, whatever, like has been like crazy,” Carrington said. “… (Banham is) a coach, basically. So she is giving us critiques, but things to help us or things that she sees from the lens (from the bench). Sometimes on the bench, you can see things better than you can on the court because you have so much going on so she’s been super helpful for all of us.
“And every time you see Rachel, you just have to be happy… you can’t be mean to Rachel. You can’t be mad at Rachel. I don’t know, she just got it.”
