Rookies may be inexperienced at the WNBA level, but a lot of them took part in the pressure-packed atmosphere of the NCAA tournament in college as recently as this spring. And let us not forget that these first-year pros are still immensely skilled players who can catch opposing teams off guard since the scouting reports on them aren't exactly robust at this point.

Take for instance Renee Montgomery. The fourth overall selection out of UConn was an integral piece of deep NCAA tournament runs for the Huskies during her college career, including a title this past April. And while the Lynx aren't exactly in a one-and-done situation just yet, any loss at this point can do severe harm to their postseason chances because they have veteran teams like San Antonio and Los Angeles right on their heels.

Heading into this past Friday's game against Connecticut, the young Lynx had been slipping a bit, having lost three straight and five of their last six. Enter Montgomery, who posted a career-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting to lead the Lynx to a 95-88 victory over the Sun and help Minnesota tighten its grip on third place in the West. She followed that up with another un-rookie-like performance against San Antonio, scoring 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Unfortunately, the Lynx dropped that contest to the Silver Stars, 89-87, but the razor-thin final margin shows the game could have gone the other way very easily.

Montgomery wasn't the only rookie playing a pivotal role this past week. Shavonte Zellous was instrumental in a pair of Detroit wins, posting 19 points in a victory over Chicago, then coming through with 16 in the team's triumph in Washington two days later. With the back-to-back wins the Shock improved to 9-11 on the season and moved within a game of the final playoff spot in the East.

I guess this is where I'm supposed to insert the obligatory "they aren't rookies anymore" line, although I can't do it. They are still rookies. There will be hiccups down the stretch. Still, that doesn't mean there aren't opportunities for them to step up and help push their teams into the postseason.

No. 1: DeWanna Bonner, Phoenix Mercury (5th pick) GP MPG PPG FG% 3PM-A RPG APG SPG BPG 23 21.6 11.5 .442 1-8 6.0 0.3 0.6 0.7 Skinny: Just one game for Bonner this past week and it took place way back on Saturday, with the Mercury falling to the Fever. Still, it was a good one for Bonner, who scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting while grabbing five rebounds. Something to watch for though: Bonner actually got less time off the pine than Penny Taylor, but it should be noted that it was only a minute less. Action picks up for Bonner and Phoenix starting tonight, as the team plays three games in six days. Previous ranking: 1

No. 2: Angel McCoughtry, Atlanta Dream (1st pick) GP MPG PPG FG% 3PM-A RPG APG SPG BPG 22 17.4 10.1 .453 6-27 2.3 1.5 1.8 0.3 Skinny: Despite losing their last game, the Dream remain one of the hottest teams in the league having captured four of their past five. The minutes McCoughtry has averaged during that five-game span? 21.8 per game. That can't be a coincidence, right? Actually, McCoughtry's play hasn't been anything special lately, just solid. Last Thursday versus San Antonio she scored 11 points and collected three steals and three boards, but shot just 4-of-14 from the floor. On Saturday against the Sky she scored 10 points before fouling out. Also, the Dream just acquired the defensive-minded Armintie Price from the Sky in exchange for Tamera Young. It'll be interesting to see how that affects McCoughtry. Previous ranking: 2

No. 3: Shavonte Zellous, Detroit Shock (11th pick) GP MPG PPG FG% 3PM-A RPG APG SPG BPG 20 22.3 11.3 .375 6-21 2.9 1.2 0.9 0.4 Skinny: So Zellous appears to be back to the form that made her one of the best bench scorers in the league. You can't overlook the improved health of Deanna Nolan as having a huge impact on this. Nolan has averaged 19.0 points over Detroit's past six games, which means there's less pressure on Zellous to be a point-producer. And with opponents forced to ramp up the containment of Nolan, Zellous is getting better looks at the basket. Previous ranking: 3

No. 4: Renee Montgomery, Minnesota Lynx (4th pick) GP MPG PPG FG% 3PM-A RPG APG SPG BPG 22 20.8 8.9 .436 22-67 1.5 1.9 0.8 0.1 Skinny: Montgomery returns to the Rookie Rankings after a two-week hiatus, mainly for reasons mentioned above. But as effective as Montgomery has been as a scorer for the Lynx, we'd still like to see her become a better distributor as the team's starting point guard (Montgomery has reached four assists just once in the team's past seven games). Candice Wiggins has been struggling with her shot in the past month and a half and could benefit from a talented PG like Montgomery getting her the ball in the right positions. Previous ranking: NR

No. 5: Anete Jekabsone-Zogota, Connecticut Sun (Not drafted) GP MPG PPG FG% 3PM-A RPG APG SPG BPG 14 20.4 7.6 .432 15-36 2.1 2.4 0.4 0.0 Skinny: Jekabsone-Zogota has continued to play well since Sun coach Mike Thibault inserted her into the starting lineup at the small forward position three games ago. This past week, Jekabsone-Zogota posted a pair of 15-point games and also contirbuted in other areas, including dishing out a season-high seven assists in a loss to the Lynx Friday. In that game, Jekabsone-Zogota played a team-high 36 minutes. So, yeah, Coach T likes what he's seen so far of his Latvian import. Previous ranking: 5

Honorable Mention: