Tangela Smith #5 Center

Background

Tangela Smith enters her 14th WNBA season and first with the Fever, as one of the league's all-time leaders in both scoring and rebounding…Smith signed a multi-year deal with the Fever on February 2, bringing her within a 3-hour drive of her hometown of Chicago…she has played more games, 415, than any other player in the 15-year history of the league…she broke the league mark for games played last August at Conseco Fieldhouse…she has played in every game in nine of the past 11 seasons…she begins the 2011 season fifth on the all-time career scoring list with 4,773 points and sixth all-time with 2,216 rebounds…she ranks fourth in WNBA history in blocks and 14th in steals…she needs just 44 field goals to become the fourth player in WNBA history with 2,000 in her career and she needs just five offensive rebounds to be the ninth player in league history with 600 in her career...in 2009, she was the first player in history to finish among the league's top three in both blocked shots (3rd, 1.68 bpg) and 3-pt FG percentage (1st, .452)…a four-year Big Ten Conference star out of Iowa, Smith joins a Fever roster that includes three other former Big Ten Players of the Year – Jessica Davenport, Katie Douglas and assistant coach Stephanie White.

PRO - WNBA
2010: Fifth on the Mercury with an average of 9.2 points per game, she scored in double figures 13 times, including 10 of the final 19 contests…in July, she had a season-high string of three straight games with 10+ points, including her 15 points vs. Tulsa, 7/17…she celebrated the Fourth of July a day early with some fireworks of her own, scoring a season-best 21 points vs. New York, 7/3…in that game, she tied a career-high with five 3-pt FG on seven attempts…she also had a season-high 10 rebounds against the Liberty, giving her a first double-double of the season…she also had a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards at Chicago, 8/10…including 4 3-pointers, she shot 7-of-8 from the floor and tied for the team lead with 18 points vs. San Antonio, 8/6…that was the only time she led Phoenix in scoring during the season…for the season, she averaged 5.2 rebounds a game, third best on the team, and was second best on the Mercury with 29 blocked shots…her appearance against the Fever at Conseco Fieldhouse, 8/13, was the 411th game of her career, moving her ahead of Vickie Johnson into first on the WNBA's all-time career games played list. 2009: After missing the last nine games of 2008 due to knee surgery, she started all 34 games in 2009, averaging 9.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game…she shot a career-high 87.0 percent (20-of-23) from the free throw line and hit 36-straight free throws from July 8, 2008 to July 18, 2009, setting a Mercury franchise record for consecutive free throws made…she also shot a career-best 45.2 percent from 3-pt land, leading the WNBA in 3-pt FG accuracy…ranked third in WNBA in blocks per game (1.68), she was the third player in WNBA history to rank in the top five of both 3-pt shooting and blocked shots in the same season…she is the only player in history to be among the top three in both categories in the same season…she led Phoenix in blocks a team-high 21 times…she scored a season-high 23 points vs. Minnesota, 7/22, and tallied 20 points at Sacramento, 7/11…she led Phoenix in rebounding nine times and her season-high 13 boards vs. Chicago, 7/8, tied her most ever in the WNBA. 2008: She started all 25 games she played before undergoing season-ending arthroscopic knee surgery on Aug. 12, 2008…she recorded her 4,000th career point at Atlanta, 7/1, and was the seventh player in league history to reach this milestone…averaging in double figures for a ninth consecutive season, she was third on the team with 11.1 points per game…she led the team in rebounding a team-high 13 times, while leading it in blocks nine times and minutes eight times…she recorded a season-high five blocks on at Sacramento, 7/24. 2007: After being selected by Minnesota in the Charlotte dispersal draft, her rights were acquired by the Phoenix Mercury in a draft-day blockbuster, 4/4, in exchange for the rights to the number one overall pick in the college draft (Lindsey Harding)…one of three Mercury starters to start every game in 2007, she averaged 12.6 points and a career-high 6.5 rebounds that led the team…she averaged a team-leading 1.65 blocks per game which ranked fourth in the WNBA. 2006: A starter in all 34 games for the Charlotte Sting, she averaged 13.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 28.6 minutes per game…she shot 42.1 percent from the field, 74.4 percent from the free throw line and 36.5 percent from three-point range…she scored a season-high 25 points twice and had three double-doubles…she blocked a team-leading 29 shots. 2005: In her first season in Charlotte, she started and played in 31 games…she had a string of 224 games played snapped by a bruised left knee that kept her out of the last three games of the season…she led the team in scoring and minutes, averaging 13.6 points and 34.3 minutes along with 5.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.65 steals and 1.03 blocks per game…she ranked among league leaders in minutes (seventh), steals (ninth), blocks, (12th), points (14th) and free throw percentage (19th)…she recorded one double-double and finished with five 20+ point games. 2004: Starting all 34 games for the second straight season, she averaged 11.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 26.7 minutes per games…she scored in double figures in 21 of 34 games for Sacramento…she was traded to Charlotte at the conclusion of the season along with a second-round draft pick in exchange for Nicole Powell, Olympia Scott and Erin Buescher. 2003: Having started all 34 games for the Monarchs, she averaged 12.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.9 blocks and 28.9 minutes per game…she scored in double figures in 26 of 34 games and recorded two double-doubles…she scored her 2,000th career point against Cleveland, 7/15. 2002: Smith averaged 14.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.4 blocks and 33.2 minutes per game in 32 starts…she finished the season ranked fifth in the WNBA with 1.4 blocks per game and fourth in the league with 46 total blocks…she finished fourth in voting for Most Improved Player of the Year Award. 2001: In 32 starts, she averaged 11.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.7 blocks in 28.5 minutes per game…she ranked seventh in WNBA in blocked shots...she recorded two double-doubles. 2000: A candidate for the WNBA's Most Improved Player Award, Smith averaged 12.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists, a team-high 2.0 blocks and 28.9 minutes per game…she started all 32 games and ended the season ranked third in the WNBA in blocks. 1999: She saw action in 31 games and averaged 8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 20.4 minutes per game…she started the last three games for an injured Yolanda Griffith and averaged 20.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.33 blocks per game over that span…she finished the season ranked eighth in the WNBA in blocks…she scored in double figures 11 times and posted one double-double, the second of her career. 1998: In her rookie campaign, Smith averaged 9.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game…her blocks per game ranked third best in the league…she appeared in 28 games, including 10 starts and scored in double figures 10 times with 20 or more points twice…she had one double-double…she enjoyed a stretch in late July and early August in which she averaged 16.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game over an eight-game span as a starter.

PLAYOFFS
Tangela Smith has advanced to the WNBA Playoffs in eight different seasons with the Monarchs and Mercury, owning career playoff marks of 11.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game…she has started all 44 playoff games that she has played, and won a pair of championship rings with Phoenix…she has reached the conference finals in six different seasons. 2010: Smith and the Mercury swept San Antonio in two games before losing to Seattle in two games in the Western Conference Finals…she averaged 9.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in four games. 2009: Smith and the Mercury won the WNBA title for the second time in three seasons, beating Indiana in a five-game series…Smith had 11 3-pointers in the series including a pair of fourth quarter 3s in the deciding Game 5 that broke an 80-80 tie and gave Phoenix its final lead…in an 11-game postseason that included wins over San Antonio and Los Angeles, Smith averaged 9.9 points and 5.8 rebounds…she averaged 10.6 points and 6.8 rebounds in the WNBA Finals. 2007: Phoenix won its first title in franchise history with Smith averaging 11.1 points and 7.8 rebounds in a nine-game postseason…she had a season playoff high 18 points, plus 10 rebounds, in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals at Detroit. 2004: Smith helped Sacramento to the Western Conference Finals for the third time in four seasons…her playoff scoring average of 15.8 points was the best of her career as the Monarchs beat LA in three games before falling 2-1 to Seattle…she scored a playoffs career high with 24 points in Game 1 of the conference finals against the Storm. 2003: Averaging 12.8 points and a career playoffs high with 7.7 rebounds per game, Smith helped the Monarchs to the Western Conference Finals against Los Angeles…her season playoff scoring high was 17 points in Game 1 of a semifinal series against Houston…Sacramento beat Houston in three games before falling to LA in three games. 2001: Smith and the Monarchs captured their first playoff series by sweeping Utah 2-0 in the Western Conference Semifinals…Smith scored 17 points in a Game 1 win…including three games in the conference finals against Los Angeles, Smith posted five-game averages of 11.0 points and 5.8 rebounds. 2000: Sacramento fell to Houston in a two-game semifinal series…Smith had 13 points in Game 1. 1999: Sacramento fell to L.A. in a one-game playoff with Smith contributing 14 points and a pair of rebounds.

PRO - OVERSEAS
In her pro career overseas she has played in Italy, Israel, Turkey, China, Poland, Russia and Korea…in 2001, she helped lead Botasspor to the championship of Turkey's TKBL…she also won league championships in Korea (2001-02) with the Shinsegae Coolcat and in China (2008-09) with Liaoning Hengye…in 2010-11, she averaged 4.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in 15 appearances for CCC Polkowice, helping to lead her team to a runner-up finish in Poland's PLKK.

INTERNATIONAL
Between her junior and senior seasons at Iowa, she competed for the United States in the 1997 R. William Jones Cup competition in Taiwan, averaging 8.0 points and shooting 54.8 percent from the floor for a team that finished 6-1 and won a silver medal…her teammates on that squad included former Fever player Monica Maxwell and current Indiana assistant coach Stephanie White…selected to tryout for the 2004 USA Basketball Women’s Olympic team, she participated in the team’s undefeated (16-0) exhibition schedule…she made six appearances, averaging 8.2 points and shooting nearly 70 percent (.697) from the floor. COLLEGE
An All-Big Ten First Team selection in three straight seasons, she averaged 13.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, while shooting 51.0 percent from the field in 116 games played during a four-year career at Iowa…she ranked third all-time at Iowa in career rebounds (859) and seventh in career scoring (1,598)…she still holds Hawkeye records for blocks in a game (7), season (73) and career (235)…she was named the Big Ten Player of the Year as a senior in 1998 after leading Iowa in scoring (19.9 ppg), rebounds (8.4 rpg), blocked shots (1.8 bpg) and field goal percentage (.559)…she poured in a career-high 37 points against Richmond, 12/7/97…as a junior, she averaged 17.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game …as a sophomore, she averaged 13.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game…Iowa won conference championships in 1996 and 1998, with a tournament title in 1997.