Liz Cambage greets fans after winning the bronze medal with the Australian National Team. (Photo courtesty London 2012)

Cambage bails on Tulsa for remainder of 2012

Bronze medalist Liz Cambage, who became the first woman to dunk in Olympic competition, will not return to the WNBA's Tulsa Shock for the remainder of the 2012 season. 

Cambage, who was missed her scheduled flight yesterday, notified the team today via a statement from her agent that she would not be returning this season.

“Over the past six months, Liz has been involved with the Australian National Team as they prepared for the 2012 London Olympics. She has returned from the Olympic campaign physically exhausted and is in need of some recovery time. Unfortunately this will make her unavailable for the remaining few weeks of the WNBA season. We are aware that this is an unfortunate situation and we appreciate and thank Tulsa Shock for their understanding.”

The 6-8 post player has not suited up for the Shock this season due to Australian preparations for the Olympics and was scheduled to rejoin the team yesterday and begin playing on Thursday. The news comes as disappointment to the Shock, who are 4-19 and currently tied with the Phoenix Mercury for last place in the WNBA.

“We've got a core of young players who are playing extremely hard, learning, growing together and building a strong foundation for the Shock,” said president Steve Swetoha. “Our organization did all we could to get Liz here to finish the regular season and we look forward to having her rejoin the team in 2013.”

The Shock are on the road tonight against the Atlanta Dream.