By Henry Luzzatto

Correspondent

Sugar Rodgers is no stranger to stardom. However, after three seasons of professional basketball, the Suffolk native has reached new levels of exposure this season.

Rodgers cemented herself as the starting guard for the WNBA’s New York Liberty this season, starting every game and leading the league in three-pointers. Her breakout season earned her a spot on the U.S. Select Team, which practiced with and competed against the women’s national basketball team last weekend.

“I knew it was an opportunity to showcase my talent,” Rodgers said. “It was good to work with them and see what it takes to be an Olympian.”

The U.S. Select Team practiced alongside the Olympic team before facing off against the Olympians in an exhibition game. Despite being the weaker team, the select team gave the Olympians some stiff competition, with the Olympic team gaining a narrow victory, 88-84.

Though she did not start the game, Rodgers ended up playing more than 14 minutes.

She said the opportunity to train with a national team vying for its sixth straight Olympic gold allowed her to see how to reach that same level.

“The difference is more in their experience,” she said. “Talent-wise, everyone’s around the same level, since we all play in the WNBA.”

Rodgers has shown she has no shortage of talent.

The Suffolk native graduated from King’s Fork High School in 2007, after being named the school’s most valuable player all four years. She continued her career at Georgetown University, where she holds the scoring record for men and women with a total 2,518 points over her career.

Rodgers was selected by the Minnesota Lynx as the second pick of the second round of the 2013 WNBA draft. However, she could not break into the first team in Minnesota, and she ended up going to to play for the New York Liberty.

Since then, she has become a key player, starting every game of the 2016 season, which sees the Liberty in first place in the Eastern conference.

Rodgers said the opportunity to be a starter came with patience.

“I got an opportunity to play, and I ran with it,” she said. “You have to continue to work hard and be patient. Your time will come; my time happened to be this year.”

During the 2016 season, Rodgers has averaged 14.7 points per game, compared to 8.1 last season. She has also seen dramatic increases in nearly every important statistic for her position.

She said she worked hard in the off season to develop her game.

“I just worked on tightening up and being consistent,” she said. “My goals were to be consistent and be the best two-way guard.”

Rodgers said she spends time practicing offense and defense in order to contribute going both ways. She said this gives her an advantage over other players.

“It gives me something a lot of players don’t focus on,” she said. “Some people only focus on offense.”

There has been an upwelling of support for Rodgers in her hometown. Young basketball players attended the Liberty’s game in Washington, D.C. to see their hero play.

Rodgers said knowing she is a role model provides her with extra motivation to work hard and continue to succeed.

“It’s definitely motivation for me. I didn’t have a WNBA player to look up to when I was growing up.”

Despite her success so far this season, Rodgers is looking for more. She said the Liberty have a good chance of going all the way and becoming WNBA champions.

Looking further down the road, she said she wants to find herself on the Olympic team in 2020.

“It’s my ultimate goal,” she said. “I definitely think I can do it. But we’ll see in four years.”