When the Atlanta Dream and Phoenix Mercury step on the court on Aug. 21, a little bit of history could possibly be made. Tina Charles is just 10 points away from moving up to No. 2 on the WNBA all-time scoring list, and she'll be sharing the court with the person who's at the top of the list, Diana Taurasi. Both players have shown their dominance since being drafted in the league, and all their hard work is showing in the record books.

For Charles, she's treating this just like a regular game, and hoping to get the win to extend the Dream's winning streak to three games.

“It’s great for the league – the attention – but I’m just trying to get the win,” Charles said to the media before the game. “If you just keep putting in the work, and God blessing you with the strength to go out and do what you love to do, you can sustain and be in this league.”

Growing up in New York, Charles fell in love with basketball by watching people score, and what she wants to do is watch the future of the league get buckets and see others succeed.

“It’s meant everything just to have an impact on the younger generation that I’m playing alongside, especially with Rhyne [Howard] and how the future is going to be for her,” Charles said. “I think that’s what is most important to me.

“I fell in love with the game just growing up in New York watching people score. For me, I didn’t fall in love because of defense, it was just about scoring and the challenges to score, especially in New York.”

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Tina Charles, Dream looking to extend winning streak vs. Mercury

Phoenix Mercury center Tina Charles talks to the press at Verizon 5G Performance Center.
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The Phoenix Mercury and Atlanta Dream come in their matchup only playing each other once this season, with it being the fourth game of the season. Both teams have looked completely different since then, but the Mercury were able to slide out with an 88-85 win. 

This time around, the Dream will have to worry about Brittney Griner, who is a problem for the opposing team’s frontcourts. Some things that haven’t changed since the last matchup is the play of Kahleah Copper, who has been scoring at a high level all season. In their first matchup, Copper scored 38 points and went to the free-throw line 16 times. If the Dream plan to slow her down, they’ll have to stay in front of her and not foul. 

The Dream have been playing well as of late, and it’s been with the help of their guard play, and most notably the trio of Rhyne Howard, Allisha Gray, and Jordin Canada. They’ve shown that when they’re all on the court together, good things happen.

Charles has also been playing well, scoring over 15 points in the past two games since the break. If they can keep the same intensity that they've been playing with, there's a good chance they can come out with the win.