Ta'Shauna "Sugar" Rodgers is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association. Rodgers is a guard, and played her college ball for the Georgetown Hoyas. A prolific three-point shooter, Rodgers was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx in part to fill the void created by the trade of Candice Wiggins. At Georgetown, she was the school's all-time scoring leader, with 2,518 points, and the team's all-time steals leader, with 326, as well as holding the team record for 3-point field goals made. She was a four-time All Big East First Team pick, and was drafted by the Lynx in the second round as the 14th overall pick.
Early life
Rodgers was born in Suffolk, Virginia to Barbara Mae Rodgers and Oscar Allen Saunders Jr. in 1989. Rodgers played basketball for her high school team at King's Fork High School, where she became the school's MVP all four years, conference Player of the Year three times, as well as a McDonald's All-American. She was named a Parade All-American in 2009. She graduated with her school's records in career points, assists, rebounds and blocks. At the 2007 AAU Nike Nationals, Sugar didn't start, but played in every game as for the Suffolk Blazers, and was named the tournament's MVP. Sugar's mother, who had played basketball herself at Booker T. Washington High School, died in 2005 from lupus, and her father died in July 2012.
College career
Rodgers was recruited to the Georgetown Hoyas in part through her play on the AAU Suffolk Blazers, who were coached by Boo Williams, the brother of Georgetown head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. Rodgers excelled early at Georgetown, and was named 2010 Big East Rookie of the Year, as well as First Team All-Big East, a feat she repeated all four years. That year she led the team to new heights, propelling them into the national rankings for the first time in fifteen years, and helping the team to just its second NCAA Tournament invitation. In her sophomore year, she led the team to the NCAA's Sweet Sixteen with an upset win over rival Maryland, before losing to UConn. In her four years, she amassed 2,518 points to become the leading scorer all-time at Georgetown on either the men's or women's team. The leading scorer on the men's team, Sleepy Floyd had 2,304 points, while Patrick Ewing had 2,184. She was a three-time AP Honorable Mention All-American, and majored in English.
Georgetown statistics
Source
Year
Team
GP
Points
FG%
3P%
FT%
RPG
APG
SPG
BPG
PPG
2009-10
Georgetown
33
580
39.6
33.3
78.0
3.6
1.9
1.8
0.2
17.6
2010-11
Georgetown
35
653
40.5
34.8
82.9
4.9
2.4
2.5
0.3
18.7
2011-12
Georgetown
31
574
34.3
29.3
81.9
5.4
1.7
2.3
0.4
18.5
2012-13
Georgetown
31
711
36.4
31.9
75.8
6.9
4.1
3.4
0.5
22.9
Career
Georgetown
130
2518
37.6
32.3
79.3
5.2
2.5
2.5
0.3
19.4
Professional
Rodgers was selected 2nd in the 2nd round of the 2013 WNBA Draft as the 14th overall pick by the Minnesota Lynx. She made the team out of training camp, and made her professional debut on June 1, 2013, in a victory over the Connecticut Sun. Rodgers has logged the most minutes of the three rookies on the team, earning playing time thanks to aggressive defense and hustle. During the WNBA off season, Rodgers joined the Arras team in France. She was traded to the New York Liberty prior to the 2014 season. In the WNBA, she averages 18.8 minutes per game, 35.7% three-point field goals, and 7.8 PPG. On April 11, 2019, Rodgers was traded to the Las Vegas Aces as part of a four-way deal that saw Rodgers head to Las Vegas in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2020 WNBA draft, which in turn was traded to the Atlanta Dream for guard Nia Coffey. Also involved in that trade was the acquisition of Tanisha Wright from the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for a second round pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft.
