Perseverance paying off for older rookies in the WNBA

FILE - Japan's Rui Machida (13) drives around United States's Brittney Griner (15) and Breanna Stewart (10), right, during the women's basketball gold medal game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, in Saitama, Japan. Machida is a 29-year-old rookie on the WNBA Washington Mystics. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

FILE - Chicago Sky guard Rebekah Gardner, center, defends against Seattle Storm center Ezi Magbegor, left, during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, May 18, 2022, in Seattle. Gardner is a 31-year-old rookie with the WNBA Chicago Sky. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

FILE - Connecticut Sun guard Yvonne Anderson, left, drives against New York Liberty forward Natasha Howard, right, in the second half during a WNBA basketball game, Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in New York. Yvonne Anderson understood that making a WNBA roster as an undrafted rookie was going to be tough and getting that chance a decade after she left college would be even tougher. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - Serbia's Tina Krajisnik (33) drives around Canada's Kia Nurse (5) during a women's basketball game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 26, 2021, in Saitama, Japan. Krajisnij is a 31-year-old rookie on the WNBA Chicago Sky. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)