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2002 Results: The Mercury finished 11-21 (.344, seventh in West). Roster | Stats | 2003 Schedule Purchase Mercury tickets now! WNBA 2003 Season Preview

2003 Probable Starters: C: Adrian Williams PF: Kayte Christensen SF: Lisa Harrison SG: Edwina Brown PG: Tamicha Jackson

2003 Draft Results: Rd. 1: Plenette Pierson Rd. 2: Petra Ujhelyi Rd. 3: Telisha Quarles Rd. 3: Marion Jones D.D.*: Tamicha Jackson

2002 Leaders: Points Jennifer Gillom, 15.3 ppg Rebs. Adrian Williams, 6.9 rpg Assts. Gordana Grubin, 3.3 apg Blocks Adrian Williams, 0.91 bpg Steals Adrian Williams, 1.50 spg

Head Coach: John Shumate enters his first season with the team.

They Said It: "My dream is to be able to look at Jerry Colangelo after winning a championship and say thank you and this is the return for the opportunity you gave me." -- Head coach John Shumate, on returning to the town where he first played pro basketball. (Arizona Republic)

VGM Prospect: Kayte Christensen The second-year player from UC-Santa Barbara averaged 4.0 points and 2.4 rebounds as a rookie. With Jennifer Gillom gone, look for Christensen's numbers to rise. WNBA.com Virtual GM

Mercury Headlines: Veal leaves Mercury Latest preseason results and quotes

(*-Denotes "Dispersal Draft")

Quick, name the five teams that have played for a WNBA championship?

The Houston Comets, the L.A. Sparks, the New York Liberty, the Charlotte Sting and ...

Jackson

If you guessed the Phoenix Mercury, you are correct.

But that was five seasons ago in 1998 when the Mercury fell to the Comets in three games. The Mercury last made the playoffs in 2000, and in the last two seasons, Phoenix has a .375 winning percentage, third lowest in the league.

So, what to do? Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again. And the Mercury are doing that with new coach John Shumate.

Shumate, who held a front office position with the Mercury's NBA brethren the Suns, enters his first season at the helm of the Mercury. Before training camp opened, the Mercury lost Jennifer Gillom to free agency and Kristen Veal returned to Australia. Still, Shumate inherits a team with a lot of young talent.

It starts in the middle with the Mercury and forward-center Adrian Williams.

Williams enters her fourth season in the WNBA and her numbers have improved every season. Last year, Williams led the Mercury in rebounds (6.9 per game), blocks (0.91) and steals (1.50). Williams has also improved her scoring average each season and averaged 6.3 points, a career high, last year.

Also giving the Mercury a much needed boost in the frontcourt is forward Kayte Christensen. Though only starting two games last season, Christensen played in 30 and averaged 4.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game off the bench.

At small forward, Lisa Harrison has been a Phoenix fixture for the last four seasons, playing in 127 of a possible 128 games. Harrison has also improved her scoring each season in the WNBA and scored a career-high 8.2 points per game.

Point guard Gordanda Grubin will return to the Mercury this season. Grubin, who was second on the team in scoring in 2002 with 9.9 points per game and first in assists with 3.3, will most likely team up with newcomer Tamicha Jackson at point guard.

Jackson is the most prominent new arrival to the Valley of the Sun. Jackson, entering her fourth WNBA season, arrives from Portland via the WNBA Dispersal Draft. Jackson put up numbers (9.8 points and 3.0 assists) comparable to Grubin. Jackson and Grubin should make a formidable point guard combination.

The Mercury tabbed the versatile Plenette Pierson with their first round pick in the 2003 WNBA Draft. Pierson, who averaged 15.4 points per game at Texas Tech, started the Mercury's first preseason game, scoring five points and grabbing four rebounds.

Nevriye Yilmaz will beanother player who will give the Mercury a presence in the middle. The 6-4 rookie center from Turkey will give Williams and Christensen some help in the tall Western Conference. Guard Anna DeForge returns to the WNBA after two seasons to give the Mercury some veteran help from the perimeter.

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