# WNBA news 9/02



## truebluefan (May 27, 2002)

*2006 All-WNBA First and Second Teams announced*

New York, September 1, 2006 - The 2006 All-WNBA First and Second Teams were named by the WNBA today. For the seventh time in her career, Los Angeles Sparks' Lisa Leslie occupies the center spot on the All-WNBA First Team. With her selection to the 2006 squad, no other player in league history has earned more First Team honors than Leslie.

Voting for the All-WNBA First and Second Teams was conducted by a panel of national sportswriters and broadcasters who selected players by position. First Team votes received five points while Second Team votes received three.

Leslie led all vote-getters with a total 278 points, narrowly edging out Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi (276), who joins the First Team for the second time in her career. The Indiana Fever's Tamika Catchings, a three-time First Team selection, occupies one forward spot, while the Seattle Storm's Lauren Jackson holds down the other with her fourth consecutive appearance on the First Team. Connecticut Sun guard Katie Douglas rounds out the backcourt as she grabs her first All-WNBA honor.

While leading the Sparks to the best record in the Western Conference (25-9), Leslie also led the league in double-doubles (17) and defensive rebounds (240); ranked second in total rebounds (323) and blocks (57); third in points (680), free throws (158) and field goals made (257). Taurasi led the league in overall scoring (860) and points per game (25.3), both WNBA single-season records. Catchings, the league's Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, led the Fever in scoring. Jackson was tied for fourth in the league in points and rebounds per game. Douglas, in a breakout season that saw her lead Connecticut in scoring, finished second in the voting for the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award and third in the voting for Most Improved Player honors.

The 2006 All-WNBA Second Team is led by Detroit Shock center Cheryl Ford. She is joined by the Connecticut Sun's Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Houston Comets' Sheryl Swoopes at the forward positions, and the Washington Mystics' Alana Beard and Minnesota Lynx' Seimone Augustus, the 2006 WNBA Rookie of the Year, in the guard sports.

Each All-WNBA player will receive a Tiffany-designed trophy. In addition, $10,000 will be rewarded to each member of the First Team and $5,000 to each member of the Second Team.

Below are the complete results of the 2006 ALL-WNBA TEAM VOTING:

2006 ALL-WNBA FIRST TEAM

Player Team Position Points
Lisa Leslie Los Angeles Sparks Center 278
Diana Taurasi Phoenix Mercury Guard 276
Tamika Catchings Indiana Fever Forward 249
Lauren Jackson Seattle Storm Forward 246
Katie Douglas Connecticut Sun Guard 232

2006 ALL-WNBA SECOND TEAM

Player Team Position Points
Cheryl Ford Detroit Shock Center 191
Alana Beard Washington Mystics Guard 166
Taj McWilliams-Franklin Connecticut Sun Forward 151
Seimone Augustus Minnesota Lynx Guard 143
Sheryl Swoopes Houston Comets Forward 92

Featuring 14 teams and the greatest female basketball players from around the world, the WNBA is the longest-running and most successful women's professional team sports league in U.S. history. The 2006 WNBA Finals are now underway as Defending champions, the Sacramento Monarchs face off against the Detroit Shock. Complete coverage of the Finals are being provided by ESPN2, with Game 2 tipping off tonight, September 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET. For more information, please visit WNBA.com.


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## truebluefan (May 27, 2002)

*os Angeles' Lisa Leslie, New York's Becky Hammon, and Phoenix's Diana Taurasi...*

Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie, New York's Becky Hammon, and Phoenix's Diana Taurasi WNBA's Most Popular
09/01/06 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)

NEW YORK, Sept. 1, 2006 - The Los Angeles Sparks' Lisa Leslie, the New York Liberty's Becky Hammon, and the Phoenix Mercury's Diana Taurasi lead the WNBA's list of most popular player jerseys based on sales at the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City and NBAStore.com beginning in March 2006 and ending August 26, 2006. The New York Liberty, Los Angeles Sparks and Phoenix Mercury top the league's list of most popular team merchandise.

The top 10 best-selling player jerseys and top 5 best-selling teams are listed below in order:

TOP 10 PLAYERS TOP 5 TEAMS
1. Lisa Leslie 1. New York Liberty
2. Becky Hammon 2. Los Angeles Sparks
3. Diana Taurasi 3. Phoenix Mercury
4. Sue Bird 4. Connecticut Sun
5. Nykesha Sales 5. Houston Comets +
6. Sheryl Swoopes
7. Tamika Catchings*
8. Ticha Penicheiro
9. Swin Cash*
10. Alana Beard*

- Houston is new to the season-end top 5 team merchandise list compared to 2004-05 list (as indicated by +)

- Three players are new to the season-end top 25 player jersey list compared to 2004-05 list (as indicated by *).

Reebok was the official on-court apparel provider for the WNBA during the 2005-06 season. The NBA and the adidas Group recently announced that beginning with the 2006-07 season, adidas will become the official uniform and apparel provider for the WNBA, NBA and D-League.


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## truebluefan (May 27, 2002)

*Jackson Named All-WNBA First Team*

SEATTLE - Seattle Storm forward Lauren Jackson has been named to the All-WNBA First Team, the WNBA announced today. The selection is the fourth of Jackson's career and gives her the distinction of being the only player in the league to receive All-WNBA First Team honors in each of the last four seasons. Jackson also joins teammate Sue Bird and WNBA originals Lisa Leslie and Cynthia Cooper as the only players in league history to receive the honor in four consecutive seasons.

Jackson posted career highs this season in field-goal percentage (.535, second in WNBA) and free-throw percentage (.899, fourth in WNBA) and also ranked among the league's top-10 in efficiency rating (23.7), blocks (1.70 bpg), scoring (19.4 ppg), rebounding (7.6 rpg), and double-doubles (eight). She scored a career-high and franchise-record 35 points at Phoenix on May 25 and her 19 points vs. Chicago on June 7 moved her past the 3,000-point mark for her career, making her the youngest player (25 years, 33 days old) and the fastest player (162 career games) in league history to reach the milestone.

Voting for the All-WNBA First Team and Second Team was conducted by a panel of national sportswriters and broadcasters who selected players by position. First Team votes received five points while Second Team votes received three.

Leslie led all vote-getters with 278 total points, narrowly edging out Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi (276), who joins the First Team for the second time in her career. The Indiana Fever's Tamika Catchings, a three-time First Team selection, occupies the remaining forward spot, while Connecticut Sun guard Katie Douglas rounds out the backcourt as she grabs her first All-WNBA honor.

The 2006 All-WNBA Second Team is led by Detroit Shock center Cheryl Ford. She is joined by the Connecticut Sun's Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Houston Comets' Sheryl Swoopes at the forward positions, and the Washington Mystics' Alana Beard and Minnesota Lynx' Seimone Augustus, the 2006 WNBA Rookie of the Year, in the guard spots.

Below are the complete results of the 2006 ALL-WNBA Team voting:

2006 ALL-WNBA FIRST TEAM

Player Team Position Points

Lisa Leslie Los Angeles Sparks Center 278

Diana Taurasi Phoenix Mercury Guard 276

Tamika Catchings Indiana Fever Forward 249

Lauren Jackson Seattle Storm Forward 246

Katie Douglas Connecticut Sun Guard 232

2006 ALL-WNBA SECOND TEAM

Player Team Position Points

Cheryl Ford Detroit Shock Center 191

Alana Beard Washington Mystics Guard 166

Taj McWilliams-Franklin Connecticut Sun Forward 151

Seimone Augustus Minnesota Lynx Guard 143

Sheryl Swoopes Houston Comets Forward 92

The Seattle Sonics & Storm organization manages the Puget Sound region's professional basketball franchises - the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics and the WNBA's Seattle Storm. The organization oversees all sales, marketing, finance, public relations and basketball operations for the teams. The Basketball Club of Seattle LLC owns both teams.


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## truebluefan (May 27, 2002)

*Monarchs to announce support for new arena*

Members of the Sacramento Monarchs organization, in conjunction with the Yes on Q and R Campaign, will hold a press conference announcing the Monarchs' support of Measures Q and R on Sunday, September 3 at 12:45 p.m. before the Sacramento Monarchs game at ARCO arena.

Mayor Heather Fargo and Sacramento County Supervisor Susan Peters will be present for the announcement as well as former Monarch stars Edna Campbell and Ruthie Bolton.

Previous Sacramento Monarch sensation Edna Campbell has proven to be an icon to all women in her fight against cancer. You can catch her as a television commentator for the Silver Stars game during the 2006 WNBA season. Ruthie Bolton played with the Monarchs from 1997-2004. Since 2004, she has served as Head Coach of the women's basketball team at William Jessup University.

Plans call for a new venue to be built on the abandoned rail yards in Sacramento near I-5. The new arena would be home to the Monarchs and Kings, as well as house sporting, entertainment and community events and concerts. The arena would be in the heart of a new downtown regional center including shops, public plazas, restaurants and housing. Access to the venue will include a regional transportation hub.

Measure R would raise an additional $1.2 billion for urgently needed investment in the Sacramento community - a powerful economic engine that could revitalize downtown, create thousands of jobs, and generate funding to improve life in every Sacramento County community.

Measure Q says at least half of the revenue provided by Measure R should be divided fairly among Sacramento County's local governments. Communities would then be free to set their own spending priorities for programs such as roads and transit, to public safety and public school assistance.


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## truebluefan (May 27, 2002)

*Lynx Guard Seimone Augustus Named to All-WNBA Second Team*

MINNEAPOLIS/ST.PAUL - Minnesota Lynx guard Seimone Augustus, the 2006 WNBA Rookie of the Year, was named to the 2006 All-WNBA Second Team, it was announced today by the WNBA. Augustus, who received 143 points, was the lone WNBA rookie selected to either team. The voting for the All-WNBA Teams was conducted by a panel of national sportswriters and broadcasters who selected players by position. First Team votes received five points while Second Team votes received three.

"It's an honor to be selected among some of the WNBA's great players as a member of the All-WNBA Second Team," said Augustus. "Once again, I really must thank my teammates and the entire Lynx organization, as I share this award with all of them."

Selected No. 1 in the 2006 WNBA Draft by the Lynx, Augustus finished the 2006 season as the league's second-leading scorer, averaging 21.9 points per game. She ranked in the top 10 in both free throw accuracy (89.7 percent) and minutes played (33.1 mpg). Augustus becomes the third player in Lynx history to be named to an All-WNBA First or Second Team, joining Betty Lennox (2000) and Katie Smith (1st Team 2001, 2003 and 2nd Team - 2000, 2002). Both Augustus and Lennox earned Second Team honors as rookies.

On Aug. 20, Augustus became the second Lynx player (Betty Lennox) in franchise history to earn WNBA Rookie of the Year honors. In one of the best rookie seasons in WNBA history, Augustus started all 34 games for the Lynx, leading the team in scoring with 744 points. In the process, she also set Lynx single-season records for points in a season and most field-goals made (283), breaking the marks previously held by Katie Smith (739 points in 2001 and 208 field-goals made in 2003).

Augustus scored 31 points in a 92-87 win over the Indiana Fever on June 2, becoming only the sixth rookie in WNBA history to score over 30 points in a game. The Indiana game capped a season-opening five-game run during which she tallied 116 points, the most prolific start to a career in WNBA history (Ruthie Bolton-Holifield - 106, Nikki McCray - 106, Tamika Catchings - 105, Yolanda Griffith - 99). She was also named WNBA Player of the Week (May 29-June 4), becoming the second-fastest rookie to earn that honor.

The consensus National Player of the Year during her junior and senior seasons at LSU, Augustus scored 30-plus points six times in her rookie season, joining Cynthia Cooper and Diana Taurasi as the only players in league history to accomplish that feat. She tied a season high by scoring 32 points, including a club-record 17 in the third quarter, against New York on July 30, her fourth 32-point night of the season (San Antonio - July 9, Phoenix - June 18 and Seattle - June 14).

Joining Augustus on the WNBA All-Second Team are center Cheryl Ford (Detroit, 191 points), forwards Taj McWilliams-Franklin (Connecticut, 151 points), Sheryl Swoopes (Houston, 92 points) and guard Alana Beard (Washington, 166 points). The All-WNBA First Team consists of center Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles, 278 points), forwards Tamika Catchings (Indiana, 249 points) and Lauren Jackson (Seattle, 246 points) and guards Diana Taurasi (Phoenix, 276 points) and Katie Douglas (Connecticut, 232 points).


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## truebluefan (May 27, 2002)

*Shock needs jolt to snatch crucial Game 2*

There's really only one question for the Shock heading into tonight's Game 2 of the WNBA Finals against the Sacramento Monarchs.

Will the Shock show up to win a basketball game?

After the Shock was pounded and confounded in Game 1, a 95-71 loss, coach Bill Laimbeer said his team showed up to play, but not to win.

If the Shock pulls another disappearing act, it will head to Sacramento down, 2-0, and one loss away from allowing the Monarchs to repeat as champions at their home, ARCO Arena, where the next three games will be played.

Complete article


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