Park gets four points, four rebounds in WNBA opening game

Seattle Storm's Candice Dupree drives past Las Vegas Aces' Park Ji-su in the second half of a WNBA basketball game on Saturday at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Washington. [AP]

WNBA Las Vegas Aces center Park Ji-su tallied four points, four rebounds and one assist in a 97-83 loss against the Seattle Storm at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington on Saturday.

In the first game of the season, Park went two-for-four from close range to score four points, also managing four rebounds and one assist during her 12 minutes and 51 seconds on the court.

Park stepped in five minutes into the first quarter, replacing Liz Cambage.

After missing her first shot completely, Park came back with a bank shot — when the ball hits the backboard before falling into the net — with about five minutes and 51 seconds left on the clock. Park scored her second shot with just one minute and 37 seconds on the clock.

Despite the effort, the Aces couldn’t quite make it work against the Storm, ending the game down 97-83.

Park is one of the few basketball players ever to have concurrent careers in both Korea and the United States. Park was drafted into the WNBA three years ago, at just 19-years-old, becoming the first Korean player to enter the U.S. league in 15 years.

Park played for the Aces in 2018 and 2019, missing out last year due to an injury, and was called back this year.

Last year, Park stayed in Korea to play center for the Cheongju KB Stars in the Women’s Korean Basketball League.

Park wasn't the only player on the Aces' squad to have skipped last season, perhaps explaining why the team struggled in their opening game this year.

The two teams will face each other again at the same location on Tuesday at 7 p.m. local time, or at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday in Korea.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]