WNBA News

June 9, 2009 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) News Release

Surprise Teams Sit in First Place After Opening Weekend The season is young, but the Washington Mystics and the Minnesota Lynx are both in first placeafter back-to-back wins to open the season. The offseason coaching staff and front office changes in Washington have paid early dividends as the Mystics are 2-0 for the first time in franchise history and are in first place for the first time since 2002. In the Western Conference, the Lynx, who are tied for first with the Seattle Storm, jumped out to a hot start for the second year in a row. In 2008, the team raced to a 5-0 start before falling off that pace. Minnesota smashed a number of records in their wins over the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever. They averaged 99 points over the two games, nine points more than the Phoenix Mercury and 19 points more than the Fever, who have the second-highest average of teams that have played two games. Most notably, the 198 points in two games marked the second-highest two-game total in franchise history (206; May 31-June 2, 2006). The Lynx would have first place to themselves if not for Lauren Jackson who averaged 24.0 points on 60.7 percent shooting in a home-and-home series with the Sacramento Monarchs. In each game, guard Sue Bird chipped in with eight assists.

Sparks Become Second WNBA Team to Wear Branded Jerseys The Los Angeles Sparks became the second WNBA team to announce a multi-year marquee partnership to have a sponsor on the front of the team's jerseys. The Sparks and Farmers Insurance Group of Companies® agreed to a deal that will put the company's name and logo on the front of the team's jerseys and will give Farmers considerable visibility at STAPLES Center throughout the season. The team debuted the new jerseys on ABC during the season tip-off game, a 78-58 victory, against the Detroit Shock on Saturday.

Holdsclaw Joins Elite Scorers' Club Atlanta Dream forward Chamique Holdsclaw reaffirmed her place among the best players in league history by becoming the ninth player to score 4,000 career points. Entering the second game of the year, she needed just two points to reach the plateau, which she did on a free throw 1:46 into the game. Other players who have reached the milestone include Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson, Katie Smith, Lauren Jackson, Sheryl Swoopes, Yolanda Griffith, Tangela Smith and Vickie Johnson. The next active player in line for the milestone is Taj McWilliams who needs 219 more points to reach 4,000. More

Indiana to Host Seattle in 2009's First ESPN2 WNBA Tuesday Game Two teams that opened the seasons in stark contrast, the Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever, will square off at 7 p.m. ET at Conseco Fieldhouse in a nationally-televised game on ESPN2. Like the Storm, the Fever opened the season with a back-to-back set but dropped both games. Indiana lost a double-overtime heartbreaker to the Atlanta Dream, 87-86, and followed that up with a 22-point loss at home to the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday. The Fever will hope to break another losing streak Tuesday as the team has come up short in its last three games against the Storm. Indiana's last win over Seattle came June 13, 2007 at home. Coverage on ESPN2 begins at 7 p.m. Pam Ward andCarolyn Peck will call the game with Rebecca Lobo on the sidelines.

Around the WNBA

New York's Leilani Mitchell hit a 55-foot buzzer beater before the half in the Liberty's game against the Sun. DeWanna Bonner had an impressive debut with a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double against San Antonio. Alana Beard and Deanna Nolan led all scorers with a single-game season high 27 points. Erika de Souza had a double-double in Atlanta's season opener with 16 points and a league-leading 17 rebounds.

Today's Quotes

CHAMIQUE HOLDSCLAW on the Dream's opening-game win: "At one point I looked at the bench and everyone was up and cheering. As an older player, I draw from that. This is a whole new team. We had energy. The look in our eyes was incredible. We want to be good."

LEILANI MITCHELL on hitting a 55-foot buzzer beater before halftime on Sunday: "I was surprised. If you saw my face, you know I just threw it and I didn't think it would go in. I kind of threw it up there. It was good though; it gave us the lead going into halftime." June 7, 2009

SNOOP DOGG on becoming the Sparks' biggest celebrity fan: "I'm going to be the Jack Nicholson of the L.A. Sparks." June 8, 2009

Women's National Basketball Association Stories from June 9, 2009

• Monarchs Weekly - Sacramento Monarchs
• Fans to select All-Decade Team - Indiana Fever
• WNBA News - WNBA

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.