Rhyne Howard explodes for career-high 43 points in Atlanta Dream win

As was often the case during her time at Kentucky, you don’t want to be going up against Rhyne Howard after she was “snubbed”. The Los Angeles Sparks just learned that the hard way.

On Sunday afternoon, Howard popped off for a career-high 43 points in a 112-84 win for the Atlanta Dream over the Sparks. The 6-foot-2 guard easily surpassed her previous career-best of 33 points, which she set during her rookie year last season. Howard was scoring from all over the floor, shooting 14-20 from the field, 6-12 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 9-9 from the free throw line. The former Wildcat also chipped in two rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks in her 32 minutes of action.

“It felt great. I was already mad and then just coming into this game and everything was going in like I said at halftime. And it just kept flowing,” Howard told sideline reporter Autumn Johnson after the win. “There was some words said on the other end so it just kept me going… They need to put some respect on my name.”

The 2023 WNBA All-Star Game reserves were announced on Saturday. Howard was not among the 12 players selected for the roster.

Howard’s 43 points — the fifth game of at least 40 points in the WNBA this season — put her just one behind the Dream’s franchise record of 44 points, which Betty Lennox achieved during an overtime loss in 2008.

On Sunday for the Dream (7-8), Howard scored 17 in the first quarter (tying a career-high) and finished with 25 at the end of the opening half, which broke her old career-best. She is just the third player in league history (23 years and 64 days) to drop at least 40 points on 70 percent shooting or better and the second youngest player ever to reach 40 points.

After a first-year campaign in 2022 that saw her win Rookie of the Year and make the WNBA All-Star Game, Howard was not named to the 2023 All-Star Game despite putting up better per-game numbers. She came into Sunday averaging 16.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists (all up from last season) through 14 games while shooting 38.1 percent from the floor and 37.6 percent from distance (also higher than her rookie season).