WNBA set to tip off 20th season this weekend

NEW YORK — The WNBA tips off its 20th season this weekend with the return of some familiar faces and the finale for others.

Diana Taurasi is back for the Phoenix Mercury after sitting out last year to rest.

“I had little injuries that I could play through but when you don’t feel good physically, it starts draining on you,” Taurasi said earlier this week. “Mentally I needed a little bit of a break. I just needed to recharge. … I had one of my best years in Russia. Now I’m back here and ready to go.”

She’s not the only one raring to start the season. Skylar Diggins and Chiney Ogwumike are returning too after being sidelined by injuries last year. Diggins tore her anterior cruciate ligament early in the season while Ogwumike was recovering from microfracture surgery in her knee and missed the entire year.

“I’m excited. I’m anxious,” Diggins said. “New market … All this rehab, and all this stuff, just to get to this point. It’s time, so I’m definitely excited.”

Diggins hopes to pick up where she left off before she was injured last year. She’ll be doing it in front of a new fan base as Tulsa moved to Dallas in the offseason.

“The buzz around our team, the buzz around the 20th year of the WNBA. It’s a big year, so it all seems like it’s …

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