Philadelphia sophomore basketball player becomes fastest in league history to score 1,000 points

PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia public school basketball player propelled her team to a championship by becoming the fastest female player to reach 1,000 career points. 

Sophomore Shayla Smith at Universal Audenried needed just 49 games to break the record previously held by hall of fame player and coach Dawn Staley and WNBA draft pick Shawnetta Stewart. 

The Rockets won the Philadelphia Public League Championship this past weekend by defeating archrival Imhotep Institute Charter High School. They'll play in the 4A District Championship Thursday.

"The only reason I’m doing what I’m doing is because of them," Smith told FOX 29's Eddie Kadhim. "They're always uplifting me and keeping me up." 

Smith, who played football up until 7th grade, humbly credited the support of her coaches and teammates for helping her break the record.

"The only reason I’m doing what I’m doing is because of them," Smith said. "They're always uplifting me and keeping me up - I get down on myself, and they always lift me back up."

Personal accomplishments aside, basketball is a team spot and Smith said she was lucky to have teammates like Aniyah "Rambo" Howard to pick up the slack when she got into early foul trouble in Saturday's championship game. 

"I actually cried too because I was just proud that we won," Howard said. "I never won a championship ever, and I never been to Liacouras Center, so it was an honor to be there."

The Rockets will play in the 4A District Championship Thursday afternoon at LaSalle College High School.