By JARROD POTTER
MAKING her way back across the pond for another WNBA campaign, Dandenong Rangers’ great Penny Taylor will resume life in Phoenix after signing on for the coming season.
Taylor, 34 who started life in basketball at Belgrave South Red Devils, has returned to the premier competition as she returned to her beloved Phoenix Mercury for a crack at a fourth WNBA championship.
The Opals’ star swingman – who is set to play a massive role in Australia’s Olympic Games roster this year – will don the purple and orange for a 12th WNBA season.
The two-time WNBA All-Star will re-unite with championship-winning team-mate Diana Taurasi and the tandem will light the court up according to the Phoenix’s management.
“If Diana Taurasi is the heart of our franchise, Penny Taylor is the soul,” Mercury general manager Jim Pitman said on WNBA.com
“Not only is she one of the greatest players in the history of the women’s game and one of the driving forces behind our three championships, she is a great team-mate, a leader, a calming force on the floor and in the locker room.
“She has overcome injuries and setbacks, and she relentlessly persevered as the ultimate professional to get back on the court and help lead us to the title in 2014.”
Taylor sits second on the franchise’s all-time list for games, points, assists and steals.
Her short and sweet 2014/15 WNBL season – returning to play for the first time in a domestic season since 2002 with Dandenong – was capped off with selection in the WNBL All Star 5.
Taylor won a FIBA World Championship gold medal with the Opals in 2006 and was named MVP of the tournament.
She’s also a three-time WNBA champion and three-time all-star in addition to winning championships in her time in the Italian, Russian and Turkish leagues.
