That One Time: Lisa Leslie Scored 101 Points in a High School Game
Lisa Leslie at Morningside High School
By: Baigen Seawell
Everyone remembers the 100-point game that the late great Wilt Chamberlain had. To this day, there’s a few people who believe that this may or may not be true, just because stat keeping wasn’t as thorough as they are in the present day.
For the majority of us though, we agree that this happened and it nearly happened again with Kobe’s 81-point game in 2006. It definitely can happen with the nature of basketball ever changing and evolving into a perimeter style game. Within the past 20 years, we’ve seen shots begin to move outwards, and Steph Curry can arguably be the catalyst for this.
Needless to say, we’ve become enamored with how the game has morphed in regards to scoring.
But let’s talk about this stat-line for a second.
31 years ago (Feb 7, 1990), Lisa Leslie scored 101 points in 16 minutes.
101 points.
In 16 minutes.
The Morningside High School center took on South Torrance, where in 16 minutes, she tallied up 101 points. She shot 37 of 56 from the floor and 27 of 35 from the line. South Torrance held on throughout the half, but not for long as Leslie would score 49 points in the first quarter.
Lisa Leslie at Morningside High School
That’s around six points a minute, and I’m doubtful that transition plays were the result of this since South Torrance had every girl on Leslie to prevent her from scoring. This didn’t do much to faze her since she scored another 52 points in the second quarter.
As if the first near 50 points wasn’t enough to call it quits!
What makes this story even more outrageous is the fact that this was not the highest scoring record at that time. That feat actually belonged to Cheryl Miller, who scored 105 points in 1982. Though it seemed as if Leslie was well on her way to break the record, this feat would not become attainable for her. Entering the second half, South Torrance decided to pack it up and leave.
Leslie told the LA Times: “I was kind of heartbroken that I didn’t break the record,” Leslie said. “I asked the (South Torrance) coach before they left the court if they would let me score three more baskets, and then he asked his team, and they said ‘No.’ ”
Gil Ramirez, the South Torrance Coach, faced scrutiny for this gesture, even though their team was quite literally being embarrassed from the first tip. Some called it poor sportsmanship for Leslie’s high school coach to allow this to go on for so long, his response was he would let his players shine at least once a season, especially seniors.
Miller’s rebuttal explained it best though, and maybe it was a bit past its time when she said it:
“I know their (South Torrance) coach will holler about poor sportsmanship, but the game is to score points [...] It is a shame that she did not get a chance to break the record.”
Leslie was unable to break Miller’s record to her dismay. But it wouldn’t stand unbroken for long. 16 years later Epiphanny Prince from Manhattan, NY would envelope that record with 113 points.
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