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Sheryl Swoopes was named MVP of the 2005 WNBA All-Star Game. Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images |
"To come out here in this All Star Game," Swoopes said after the game, "with so much great talent on both teams, the East and West, and for me to walk away with the MVP today is pretty special to me."
After yesterday's practice, the 34-year-old member of the Houston Comets predicted, "The West won't lose." Before today's game, it was her eight-year-old son, Jordan, doing the talking, when he told his Mom she would win MVP honors.
In a game dominated by scoring, where treys rained supreme, it was Mom's turn to make good on the predictions. Swoopes turned in 15 points, on 6-of-13 shooting, to go along with four rebounds and two assists to lead the Western Conference.
The teams scored at a frenzied pace unseen in previous WNBA All-Star Games, combining for 221 points -- 62 more than the record 159 set in 2003 at New York's Madison Square Garden.
"I told our team I wanted to get 100; I didn't mean the other team," Eastern Conference head coach Mike Thibault said after the loss. "But, you know, it was a nice up-and-down game."
The two sides traded baskets -- and leads -- until the West pulled away late in the first half. With the score knotted at 36 and five minutes remaining in the first period, the West opened an 11 point lead over the next 3:30, a hole from which the East would never recover.
The Eastern Conference All-Stars kept it close through the early stages of the second half, routinely cutting the lead to less than 10 points, until Katie Smith started hoisting jumpers from downtown. The Minnesota Lynx guard put on a shooting clinic, connecting on four-of-five from beyond the arc in the second half, en route to scoring 16 points for the game. As a team, the West's All-Stars shot 12-for-24 from deep, bettering the 9-for-28 performance by the East.
Deanna Nolan, the WNBA's fourth leading scorer this season averaging 17.1 points per game, led all point producers with 20 points off the bench for the Eastern Conference, despite struggling from the field where she hit only 7-of-21 shots. Nolan saved her best for last, however, when, with less than 30 seconds remaining, the guard -- generously listed at 5-10 -- exploded through the lane for the dunk attempt. The ball skirted out of the hoop, but the sellout crowd at the Mohegan Sun Arena was no less appreciative of the effort.
On the other end of the court, the L.A. Sparks' Lisa Leslie used her height advantage -- she stands 6-5 -- to show the youngster how it's done. Both teams moved aside, as Leslie threw it down and brought the crowd -- most already standing -- to its feet.
A second try by Nolan would get no closer, and neither would her Eastern Conference teammates to their first ever All-Star victory.
Sacramento's Yolanda Griffith continued to demonstrate her low-post dominance, grabbing a game-high 14 boards -- seven coming on the offensive end.
Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever and New York's Becky Hammon scored 18 points apiece for the East squad.
"You know, what fun that is," Western Conference head coach Anne Donovan remarked. "You've got the best players in the world out there competing. You've got a lot of points on the board. You've got rebounds. You've got a dunk. What more do you want? Just a great experience. [I'm] glad to have been a part of it."