Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi leads all players after receiving the most votes following first returns of 2009 WNBA All-Star Balloting presented by T-Mobile. The Mercury’s Cappie Pondexter and DeWanna Bonner rank first and third, respectively, among forwards while center Tangela Smith and point guard Temeka Johnson rank second and fourth at the post and guard position for the West.

The 2009 WNBA All-Star Game will be nationally televised on ABC on Saturday, July 25 at 12:30 p.m. It will mark the second time that the midseason classic is played at Mohegan Sun, which also hosted the WNBA All-Star festivities in 2005.

In addition to Taurasi, top vote-getters by position in the Western Conference following first returns include center Lisa Leslie, forwards Cappie Pondexter and Lauren Jackson and guard Sue Bird. Joining Catchings as fan favorites in the Eastern Conference are center Sylvia Fowles, guards Katie Douglas and Lindsay Whalen and forward Candice Dupree.

Taurasi, who is averaging 21.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.5 steals in 2009, is currently the top vote-getter among all players with 32,921 votes. Pondexter, her Mercury teammate, follows closely behind with 26,701 votes. Rounding out the Western Conference leaders are Leslie (24,305), Bird (21,962) and Jackson (18,169). Bonner (17,973), currently the third vote-getter among forwards, is just 196 votes shy of Jackson for the second starting forward spot for the West.

Catchings, who is averaging 14.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.1 steals per game, leads Eastern Conference players with 32,266 votes. Other leaders in the East include Fowles (22,446), Douglas (22,407), Whalen (21,428) and Dupree (19,345).

Starting lineups for the WNBA All-Star Game are determined by fan balloting which began on June 14 and runs through July 7 in WNBA arenas and on WNBA.com. Fans are asked to select two forwards, two guards and one center from each conference. Starters will be announced on July 14.

A limited number of tickets for the 2009 WNBA All-Star Game are still available by going online to ticketmaster.com.

By hosting the 2009 WNBA All-Star Game, the ninth in WNBA history, Connecticut will join Washington, D.C. and New York as the only cities to stage the event multiple times. In addition to hosting the league’s first All-Star event on July 14, 1999, New York’s Madison Square Garden was the site of the All-Star Game in 2003 and again in 2006 during the league’s 10th anniversary season. Washington, D.C. hosted the game in 2002 and 2007. The Western Conference dominated play by winning six straight before MVP Katie Douglas led the Eastern Conference to a 98-82 victory in the 2006 All-Star Game. The East followed that up with another victory in 2007, when Cheryl Ford poured in 16 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds to earn MVP honors.