Riceboro native and former Bradwell Institute basketball player DeLisha Milton-Jones recently became the ninth WNBA player to reach 5,000 career points.
Jones, who plays for the Los Angeles Sparks, scored with 7:57 left in the second quarter June 26 in Tulsa to reach the mark. The Sparks lost to the Tulsa Shock, 91-75.
Jones is eighth among the nine WNBA players to score more than 5,000 points.
According to the WNBA, Jones has scored 5,019 points to date.
Jones is also ranked fourth all time in minutes played at 12,777, 12th in blocks with 305, fourth in steals with 569 and eighth in rebounds with 2,303.
Jones graduated from Bradwell in 1993 and played at the University of Florida.
As a Lady Gator, Jones made four NCAA tournament appearances and was an Associated Press All-American in her senior year.  Jones earned the Wade trophy, which recognizes the best women’s basketball players in NCAA Division I. In 2007, she was inducted into the university’s athletic hall of fame.
She was a member of the U.S. national women’s basketball teams that won the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, as well as the U.S. women’s teams that won world championships in 1998 and 2002.
Jones started her WNBA career with the Los Angeles Sparks but also spent some time with the Washington Mystics. She was re-acquired by the Sparks in 2008.
Top nine scorers in WNBA history
1. Tina Thompson — 6,912
2. Lisa Leslie — 6,263
3. Katie Smith — 6,125
4. Lauren Jackson — 5,915
5. Diana Taurasi — 5,444
6. Tamika Catchings — 5,400
7. Becky Hammon — 5,278
8. DeLisha Milton-Jones — 5,019
9. Tangela Smith — 5,011