Starting Over

But for Indiana Fever rookie forward Christina Wirth, she understands her role on a veteran team coming from highly decorated high school and collegiate careers. She is just happy to be here.

�To play in the WNBA period, is just a great opportunity,� Wirth said. �Considering that an entire team got cut and the rosters are down from 13 to 11, I feel blessed to be here.�

Playing on the WNBA�s best team and behind two MVP candidates in Tamika Catchings and Katie Douglas is rewarding for a rookie.

�Being on the number one team in the league is just amazing,� Wirth said. �They have some of the best players in the world on this team and it is great for me to play with and learn from them everyday.�

Wirth has looked to the experienced Catchings for advice and guidance this season, trying to soak up knowledge from the All-Star.

�She has helped me a lot with plays or if I make a mistake, she�ll tell me �hey, do this,�� Wirth said. �That is good for me because the strength and the speed is a lot different from college.�

Both play the small forward/power forward spot and Wirth has come to highly respect Catchings.

�She�s experienced and a two-time Olympic gold medalist � she�s doing pretty well for herself!� Wirth said. �She is a great leader, she knows when to talk to you, when to leave you alone. I just really respect her.�

Drafted 19th overall by the Fever this year, the Vanderbilt graduate has basketball roots which extend to her high school days in Arizona.

Wirth was a standout player at Seton Catholic High School in Mesa, Arizona. She was the 2005 Gatorade Arizona Player of the Year along with being a McDonald�s All-American. Wirth says that McDonald�s All-American Game is one of the highlights of her basketball career.

�There is so much leading up to the actual game,� Wirth said. �We went to the Ronald McDonald house, which was awesome. Getting to play ball with the guys and watching them was neat. �

Wirth also participated in some of the All-American Game festivites, the 2 Ball competition. In the contest, a female and male player are paired together in a shooting competition. Certain spots of the court holds different point values and whichever team has the most points wins.

�My partner was Richard Hendrix, who went on to play at Alabama, and we won!� Wirth said. �I wasn�t even going to do it but the other girls were egging me on. So I told them to sign me up. They signed me up and we won.�

After high school, Wirth chose to play at Vanderbilt � a decision that was pretty easy once she visited the school.

�I lived in Arizona for 18 years, so I was ready to leave,� Wirth said laughing. �That�s probably the only thing I knew for sure during my recruiting process. I had never heard of Vanderbilt until my sophomore year, they started recruiting me and I did my homework on the schools. I took my first official visit there and loved it.�

During her time there, Wirth increased her scoring average in each one of her four seasons for the Commodores, averaging 11.5 points per game for her four-year career.

In Wirth�s senior season, she was MVP of the SEC conference tournament and led her fourth-seeded team to the Sweet Sixteen in the 2009 NCAA Women�s Tournament. She scored a career-high 28 points in the 78-74 loss against the top seed Maryland Terrapins.

Besides having an excellent basketball career Vanderbilt, Wirth also found a best friend in teammate Jen Risper. Together, the pair averaged 24.4 points per game their senior season and led Vanderbilt to a 26-9 record and SEC Tournament Championship.

Going into the 2009 WNBA Draft, the roommates had the possibility of being drafted together.

�We were actually sitting in our room, watching the draft, just wondering who was going to go next � that was kind of fun.� Wirth said. �It was really neat, too, because of all the places we could have gone. It was just exciting sitting there together.�

Wirth was selected by Indiana in the second round. Risper was drafted in the third round, 29th overall, by the Chicago Sky � but she was cut at the beginning of the season.

�I thought she had a good chance to make the team,� Wirth said. �But it was tougher than ever with the roster cuts. She didn�t make it. This offseason though, we are going to go overseas this year and play together in Slovakia.�

Looking forward, Wirth feels like she mainly needs to improve a certain aspect of her game.

�Getting stronger is the biggest thing,� Wirth said. �In college, at 6�1�, I was a pretty average post player. But here, I�m a tiny post player. That was probably the biggest thing at first, guarding Ebony or our big post players. We are about the same height, she is just a lot stronger than me.�

Going from the leader on her college team, to a rookie reserve on a veteran team has been no easy task for Wirth. But she is doing anything and everything to learn, and make the Fever better.

�Once you are leader, you are always a leader,� Wirth said. �Your leadership role might change a little bit, but I try to be somebody that is really encouraging. I�m not talking the entire practice like I did in college. �

�I really just try to see what I can bring that this team needs. Whether that�s talking quietly with someone on the side or being encouraging my teammates. I�m just trying to fill a role that we might need filled. �