WNBA Re-Launches 2008 Season with Welcome Back Week

By the WNBA
Posted Thursday, August 28, 2008

NEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2008 – The WNBA will re-launch its season today with five games on the schedule, tipping off Welcome Back Week and the final three weeks of the league’s 12th season. The season resumes after halting play for the Olympics, where a total of 39 current and former players were in Beijing to participate. All 12 players who earned the gold medal for the United States will rejoin their WNBA teams for the final playoff push, along with several others who represented Australia, Russia, Brazil and Mali.

With 54 games remaining in regular season action, playoff berths and positioning in both the Eastern and Western Conference are up for grabs. In the East, Connecticut (16-10), New York (15-10) and Detroit (16-11) are all separated by a half-game for first place in the standings. In the West, Los Angeles (15-12), Sacramento (15-12) and Houston (14-12) have nearly identical records while San Antonio (18-9) leads Seattle (17-9) by a half-game for the top spot.

ABC and ESPN2 will each televise two games as the regular season draws to a close. On Aug. 31, ABC will televise a match-up between two of the league’s top teams as the Seattle Storm face the Connecticut Sun at 1 p.m. ET. On Sept. 7, the network will showcase the current conference leaders as San Antonio Silver Stars take on the Sun at 1 p.m. ET. ESPN2 will carry the Phoenix Mercury at Detroit Shock contest on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. ET, a re-match of last year’s WNBA Finals. On the final day of the season, Sept. 14, ESPN2 will conclude its regular season coverage by televising the game between the Storm and Los Angeles Sparks at 4:30 p.m. ET.

In addition to the exciting team match-ups, the remaining schedule will continue to showcase individual excellence. Potential MVP candidates Diana Taurasi, Lisa Leslie, Candace Parker, Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus and Sophia Young will attempt to lead their teams to the playoffs while several others will reach significant milestones. Detroit’s Katie Smith needs just 15 points to become the third player in WNBA history to score 5,000 career points. Earlier this season, Houston’s Tina Thompson joined Leslie as the only two players to reach the milestone. Also, Sacramento’s Ticha Penicheiro will look to become the first player to ever hand out 2,000 career assists. She currently has 1,984 in her 11-year career.

With seven games remaining on the Mercury’s schedule, Taurasi will aim to maintain her slight advantage over teammate and fellow gold medalist Cappie Pondexter in an effort to win the 2008 WNBA scoring title. At 23.9 points per game – a mere 0.6 points per game more than Pondexter (23.3 ppg) – Taurasi has a chance to break the single-season record for scoring (25.3 ppg) which she set in 2006.

Several rookies also look to cap their impressive inaugural seasons and stake their claim as the greatest draft class in WNBA history. Currently averaging 18.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.2 blocks per game, Parker has a chance to join an exclusive company and become just the fourth rookie – and seventh player overall – to average a double-double. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s Candice Wiggins has been impressive off the bench for the Lynx, posting 16.4 points, 3.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Also ranking among league leaders are Detroit’s Alexis Hornbuckle (2.2 steals per game) and Minnesota’s Nicky Anosike (2.5 steals per game, 6.4 rebounds per game).