First-time All-Star Tangela Smith is turning things around in Charlotte. Ron Hoskins /NBAE/Getty

The Charlotte Sting fans have not had much to cheer about this season, but things may be changing thanks to veteran forward/center Tangela Smith.

The Sting entered the All-Star break with a 3-16 record and did not have a player selected to the 2006 WNBA All-Star Game when the reserves and starters names were first released. But after injuries prevented three Eastern Conference starters from participating in the game, Tangela Smith got the call as a replacement, and only a few days after the break, the Sting look as though their luck may have turned.

Last week, after Tangela Smith participated in the first All-Star game of her career where she scored two points and grabbed four rebounds in 13 minutes, the former Iowa standout went on to finish the week by leading the Sting to back-to-back wins for the first time this season. The nine-year veteran scored a career-high 25 points to snap Charlotte's five-game losing streak on Friday in a 81-65 rout over the San Antonio Silver Stars. The following day, Smith's All-Star performances continued as she scored 17 points to lead the Sting over the Indiana Fever, 75-65. The Sting have started the second half of the season 2-0.

The former second round (12th overall) pick of the Sacramento Monarchs, who was traded along with the Monarchs' second-round pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft to the Sting in exchange for Nicole Powell, Olympia Scott-Richardson and Erin Buescher in March of 2005, is putting up the third-best scoring numbers of her career averaging 13.4 points per game and is shooting a career best 40% from the three-point line.

Among overall league ranks, Tangela is No. 17 in points per game (13.4), No. 11 in field-goals made and No. 12 in three-point percentage (.400).

Week Three
Date	Opp	Result	Min	FG	3P	FT	OFF	DEF	TOT	AST	ST	BL	TO	PF	PTS
July 14	vs San Antonio	81-65 W	30	10-14	2-3	3-3	1	4	5	4	1	1	1	2	25
July 9	vs Indiana	75-65 W	31	6-14	3-4	2-3	1	4	5	2	3	0	2	4	17