Who are the top scorers in WNBA playoff history? Just Women’s Sports breaks down the top 10 all-time points leaders.

While Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury did not make the 2023 playoffs, the 41-year-old guard still holds the top spot on the leaderboard by more than 300 points over the next closest competitor.

Just one player – Connecticut Sun forward DeWanna Bonner – moved up the leaderboard during the 2023 postseason.

Bonner jumped to fourth place and sits 62 points back of Tamika Catchings in third. (She also features in the top 10 in postseason history in rebounds, blocks and steals.)

Just Women’s Sports presents the top 10 players in WNBA playoff history in rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.

Candace Parker could make her case as the league’s greatest postseason player based on these leaderboards. She sits in the top five in all four of these categories – and in career playoff points. But the 37-year-old has not appeared (yet) in the 2023 postseason for the Las Vegas Aces as she deals with a foot injury.

Tamika Catchings, who starred for the Indiana Fever from 2002-2016, also appears in every category. While she doesn’t rank in the top five in all of them, she does have the most steals in WNBA playoff history with 152.

Connecticut Sun forward DeWanna Bonner ranks in the top 10 in rebounds, blocks and steals, and she moved up the leaderboards in the 2023 playoffs.

WNBA legend Maya Moore has retired from professional basketball. She leaves behind a legacy that will never be forgotten.

The Minnesota Lynx star stepped away from the sport after the 2018 season to to help now-husband Jonathan Irons fight to overturn his 50-year prison sentence. Before she dedicated herself to criminal justice reform, she put together arguably one of the greatest careers in WNBA history.

Just Women’s Sports takes a look at that career, by the numbers.

1

The UConn forward was drafted No. 1 overall by Minnesota in 2011. She went on to earn the Rookie of the Year award, averaging 13.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game in her debut season.

Moore spent her entire eight-year career with the Lynx, and she stands as Minnesota’s leader in points per game, 3-pointers made (530) and steals (449).

2

Moore won two Olympic gold medals with Team USA, at the 2012 London Games and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. She also won two NCAA titles with UConn, in 2009 and 2010, and two Naismith Player of the Year awards, in 2009 and 2011.

4

Before Moore stepped away from the court at age 29, she helped lead the Lynx to four WNBA championships — in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. She was named Finals MVP in 2013.

6

A six-time WNBA All-Star, Moore was named All-Star Game MVP three times during her eight-year career.

18.4

In the WNBA, Moore averaged 18.4 points per game, as well as 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 steals. She was named WNBA MVP in 2014 after averaging 23.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game; she led the league in scoring that season.

Her mark of 18.4 points per game ranks eighth all-time, behind retired stars Cynthia Cooper (21.0) and Lauren Jackson (18.9) and active players Breanna Stewart (20.3), Elena Delle Donne (19.8), Arike Ogunbowale (19.8), Diana Taurasi (19.3), A’ja Wilson (19.1), Angel McCoughtry (18.6).

90

In her four years at UConn, Moore and the Huskies went on a 90-game winning streak. That stood as the longest in NCAA history until the school went on a 111-game run a few years later. Throughout her college career, the team’s record was an astounding 150-4.

Maya Moore is officially retiring from professional basketball.

The Minnesota Lynx legend announced her decision Monday on “Good Morning America.” She stepped away from the WNBA in 2019 to help now-husband Jonathan Irons fight for his release from prison, helping to get his 50-year sentence overturned in 2020.

The two welcomed their first child, Jonathan Jr., in July.

“It’s time to put a close to the pro basketball life,” Moore said. “I walked away four seasons ago, but I wanted to officially retire. This is such a sweet time for us in our family. And the work that we’ve done, I want to continue that in this next chapter. I want to continue to be present at home for my community, my family. … So that’s what I’m moving into. Hanging it up.”

Moore won four WNBA championships in her eight seasons with the Lynx, as well as two Olympic gold medals with Team USA and two NCAA titles while at UConn. A two-time AP Player of the Year, she was drafted No. 1 overall by Minnesota in 2011 and averaged 18.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game during her career.

She won Rookie of the Year in 2011 as well as league MVP in 2014.

“I am extremely thankful for the opportunities that the WNBA, the Minnesota Lynx and basketball have given me in my lifetime,” Moore said in a release from the Lynx. “It was a dream come true for me to play basketball at the highest level and help build the foundation for women’s basketball.”

When she stepped away after the 2018 season, she did so as Minnesota’s franchise leader in scoring average, 3-point field goals made (530) and steals (449). She also ranked second in total points scored (4,984), field goals made (1,782), assists (896) and blocks (176).

“Maya Moore has forever left a mark on the state of Minnesota, the Minnesota Lynx franchise and the hearts of Lynx fans everywhere,” Lynx owner Glen Taylor said. “Maya’s accolades are numerous; her leadership and talent both fearless and inspirational set the foundation for the most exciting and historic championship run in the league from 2011-2017.

“While today culminates Maya’s basketball career, there is no doubt she will continue to impact the game we all love. We wish Maya all the best and will root for her always.”

Maya Moore and husband Jonathan Irons welcomed their first child in February, they announced Tuesday on “Good Morning America.”

Moore and Irons named their son Jonathan Hughston Irons Jr. On Instagram, Moore called his birth “one of the proudest days of my life!”

Moore was a four-time WNBA champion with the Minnesota Lynx before stepping away from the game to focus on social justice issues.

She met Irons in 2007 while he was wrongfully imprisoned for burglary and assault, and Moore helped push for his freedom. A judge overturned Irons’ conviction in 2020, and he proposed to Moore the night he was released.

The couple’s story was documented in an ESPN 30 for 30 film titled “Breakaway,” was released last July. Moore later was awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2021 ESPYs.

In her ESPYs speech, Moore addressed the strength it took for her to step away from basketball.

“My courage has not been as much in me not playing but in the emotional and mental and spiritual outpouring into love and fighting against injustice,” she said. “Power is not meant to be gripped with a clenched fist or to be hoarded, but power is meant to be handled generously so we can thoughtfully empower one another to thrive in our communities for love’s sake.”

Reggie Love takes NETLIFE host Dawn Staley behind the scenes of his time in politics, including when he served as an aide to President Barack Obama.

On the latest episode of the podcast, Love recalls his fondest memory in the White House, when President Obama invited Love’s parents to the Oval Office on the first day of his presidency.

“Your parents will not be here forever. You should never miss the opportunity to appreciate them and to show them gratitude and love,” Love remembers President Obama telling him then.

Another of Love’s favorite moments from the White House was President Obama’s 50th birthday celebration in 2011. It was never a secret that the 44th President of the United States enjoyed a competitive game of basketball, and that passion was on full display during his landmark birthday festivities.

The president’s staff organized a pick-up basketball game with players who supported his campaign, including Chauncey Billups, Chris Paul and other top-tier NBA talent. Wounded Warriors from the Walter Reed Medical Center were also invited to the White House for the star-studded event.

With all the impressive talent in the room, Love was taken by one player’s skills in particular: WNBA icon Maya Moore.

“She was by far better than everybody,” Love says of Moore, who stepped away from the game in 2018 to focus full-time on criminal justice reform and freeing Jonathan Irons, her now husband, from prison.

For more on Love’s time in the White House, listen to the latest episode of NETLIFE.

On Nov. 29, 2014, five days after a Missouri grand jury decided not to indict the police officer who killed Micheal Brown, Ariyana Smith became the first athlete to bring the #BlackLivesMatter movement into the sports landscape.

While Muhammad Ali, Colin Kaepernick and LeBron James are commonly thought of as the torchbearers of sports activism, Just Women’s Sports knows Black women have always been at the forefront of driving change. In the first piece of our Black History Month series, we shared the stories of Rose Robinson and Wyomia Tyus, athletes who fought against injustice in the 1950s and ‘60s. Since then, a myriad of Black sportswomen have taken action, some recognized and some not.

Smith, a basketball player at Knox College, suited up to play against Fontbonne University in Clayton, Miss., mere minutes from Ferguson. When the national anthem began to play, Smith raised her hands in the now iconic “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” gesture before laying on the ground. Officials tried to move Smith in an attempt to start the game, but she continued her demonstration for four and a half minutes, symbolic of the four and a half hours Mike Brown’s body lay in the street after he was killed.

While the #BlackLivesMatter movement has spurred a frenzy of demonstrations in sports, Black women have been championing a variety of topics before the age of kneeling began. In the past twenty years, issues of racism, sexism and equality have been thrust into the public discourse due to the actions of Black women in sports, committed to creating a more just world for those who come after them.

Toni Smith

More than a decade before Ariyana Smith took a stand, a different Smith protested the national anthem. In 2003, Toni Smith, a senior basketball player at Division III Manhattanville College, turned her back to the flag in protest against inequality and the country’s involvement in Iraq.

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(Wayne Taylor/Getty Images)

Venus Williams

In 2006, Venus Williams penned an open letter in The Times in a push for equal pay. A year earlier, she had addressed the Grand Slam Board, advocating for an equal distribution of prize money at the French Open and Wimbledon. Williams’ voice brought attention to the pay discrepancies in the sport of tennis and led to the leveling of pay at Wimbledon. When she won her fourth Wimbledon trophy in 2007, Williams became the first woman to receive the same earnings as that of the men’s champion.

Seimone Augustus

Seimone Augustus, a four-time WNBA champion and one of the most decorated players in women’s basketball, advocated for gay marriage in 2012. The 2011 WNBA Finals MVP wanted to marry her wife in the state where she had won a championship the year prior. The Minnesota Lynx star spoke out against a ballot measure that would have made same-sex marriage illegal in the Minnesota state constitution.

Brittney Griner and Layshia Clarendon

In 2017, Brittney Griner and Layshia Clarendon co-wrote an op-ed in which they voiced their opposition to a Texas bill that would have barred transgender people from using restrooms and other public facilities of their choosing. The WNBA stars saw the bill as a danger to queer athletes who may have been forced to use a locker room that differed from their gender identity.

Maya Moore

Maya Moore, one of the most accomplished women’s basketball players in the history of the sport, stepped away from the game at the peak of her success to pursue criminal justice reform. Moore dedicated herself to freeing her now-husband Jonathan Irons, who had been falsely imprisoned for burglary and assault. With the help of Moore, a judge overturned Irons’ conviction after he spent 23 years of his life in prison.

Serena Williams

Serena Williams has been outspoken about gender and racial equality for most of her illustrious tennis career. She wrote an open letter in 2016 addressing equal pay, and another in 2017, on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, focusing on pay inequities unique to Black women. In 2018, Serena and Venus Williams joined the Billie Jean King Initiative to push for equal pay for women in all industries.

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(Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Allyson Felix

Allyson Felix brought attention to Nike’s refusal to guarantee salary protections for pregnant athletes in a 2019 New York Times op-ed. Felix, the most decorated U.S. track athlete, said that Nike attempted to pay her 70 percent less after she became a mother. Shortly after Felix’s public appeal, the company expanded its pregnancy benefits for women athletes.

Allyson Felix and Serena Williams are also champions for Black maternal health. Both women experienced life-threatening complications during childbirth, common to Black women. Felix underwent an emergency C-section to save herself and her daughter after doctors discovered she had severe preeclampsia. Williams developed a pulmonary embolism and a hematoma shortly after she gave birth, resulting in a series of surgeries and weeks of recovery before regaining her health.

Williams’ story brought national attention to the Black maternal health crisis, and she invested $3 million in a Black-owned startup aimed at improving prenatal and postpartum care for new mothers. Felix testified before Congress to petition the government to address systemic biases that lead to disparities in maternal mortality.

Gwen Berry

Gwen Berry raised her fist during the national anthem after winning the hammer throw at the 2019 Pan American games. Berry, a thrower for the U.S. women’s track and field team, was protesting racial inequality and police brutality, and was subsequently put on a 12-month probation by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. As a result, Berry lost several sponsorship deals, totaling nearly $50,000. After the Olympic Committee reversed their stance on protests in 2020, Berry demonstrated again at the 2021 Olympic Trials, this time by turning away from the flag.

Naomi Osaka

Days after Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisc., Naomi Osaka refused to play the semifinals of the Western and Southern Open, forcing the tournament’s postponement. Less than a week later, she arrived at the 2020 U.S. Open with seven masks in her duffle bag, each embroidered with the name of a Black victim of police violence: Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Philando Castile and Tamir Rice. Osaka wore a different mask during each round of the tournament, winning her second U.S. Open title while drawing international attention to police brutality.

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(Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Raven Saunders

At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, while standing on the podium, Raven Saunders raised her arms and crossed them into an “X.” The American made the Game’s first podium demonstration after winning silver in the shot put. As a gay, Black woman with a history of mental health struggles, Saunders’ crossed arms symbolized the intersection of her oppressed identities.

Simone Biles

On the eve of further cementing herself as the greatest gymnast of all time, Simone Biles withdrew from the team final and women’s individual all-around final at the Tokyo Games. She cited mental exhaustion and physical health concerns after experiencing the “twisties,” a state of dissociation that inhibits a gymnast from completing a skill.

As arguably the face of the Tokyo Olympics, dealing with the pressure of breaking world records, Biles felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. In a sport that has long demanded obedience from its young athletes, the simple act of saying “no” sparked a moment of reckoning in sports. Biles, who announced in 2018 that she was sexually abused by Larry Nassar, a longtime doctor for USA Gymnastics, spurred conversations about mental health, abuse and exploitation with her decision. Biles, like so many other Black women athletes, continues to leverage her platform to drive societal change.

Mariah Lee is a professional athlete and freelance writer who specializes in the intersection of race and sports. She holds a B.A. from Stanford University and a M.S. from the Wake Forest School of Business. Follow her on Instagram @merdashewrote.

Following the release of her new collection with PUMA, Breanna Stewart spoke with Made for the W to talk about the collection.

She revealed that both Maya Moore and Sue Bird have made her feel empowered to use her voice.

“Circling back to Maya, she literally stopped playing to use her voice and platform and continue to fight for more,” Stewart said. “The same with Sue. [It’s empowering] to see what extent she’ll go to make sure the league is continuing to be better and using her personal experiences to help amplify the messages going forward.”

The name of Stewart’s collection, Overdue, is meant to signal something that “should have already happened” and “already been done.”

“I think what PUMA and I are looking to do with OVERDUE is looking to invest in women,” she continued. “To invest in women’s basketball and female athletes and set the standard for what we deserve and what we should have and where we should be.”

Stewart then added that the collection is just a prequel to a signature line and shoe.

“This just goes to show that PUMA is all in and they’re ready to continue to elevate the game and set the bar for the rest of these other companies,” she said.

The t-shirt ($35) and hoodie ($70) will be available on PUMA.com and at the PUMA NYC Flagship store beginning Oct. 1.

Maya Moore is the 2021 recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

The former WNBA star was recognized at Saturday night’s ESPY awards for her work in prison and criminal justice reform. Moore was joined by her husband, Jonathan Irons, whom she helped get released from prison after he was wrongfully convicted in 1998.

During her acceptance speech, Moore, a four-time WNBA champion with the Minnesota Lynx, addressed the perceived courage it took for her to step away from basketball to pursue social justice reform. Instead, Moore says, it is the courage to love that is challenging.

“My courage has not been as much in me not playing but in the emotional and mental and spiritual outpouring into love and fighting against injustice,” she said.

Moore ended her speech by imploring the audience to embrace sacrifice and empower those who are most vulnerable.

“Power is not meant to be gripped with a clenched fist or to be hoarded,” Moore said, “but power is meant to be handled generously so we can thoughtfully empower one another to thrive in our communities for love’s sake.”

Maya Moore might be mum on her return to basketball, but according to husband Jonathan Irons, the 2014 league MVP still “got it.”

“I see her all the time. We have a basketball hoop in the back of the house,” he told The Associated Press. “She’s still got it. She made a trick shot from her mama’s bedroom to the goal. She still shoots from deep and will shoot your lights out.”

But Moore, who left the WNBA in 2019 to help Irons win his release, still has no definitive return date when it comes to the WNBA.

“I’m not thinking about that at all right now,” she said. “This whole thing has been so unexpected. When Jonathan got home it was like OK, now the rest can start in a way. That’s what we’ve been doing. The story is unfolding still. This is where we’re at right now, living in the present.”

The documentary of their story — “Breakaway” produced by Robin Roberts — will air July 13 on ESPN. Moore will also be accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs next week.