Mitchell Coming Up Big For Libs

Leilani Mitchell, the 5-foot-5 starting point guard, does not have the All-Star or championship experience like fellow starters Cappie Pondexter, Nicole Powell and Taj McWilliams-Franklin. But Mitchell has been the ideal floor leader to play alongside some of the game�s best player�s a third of the way through the summer.

�She�s great because she loves to run and that�s been our thing this year,� Coach Anne Donovan said. �We want to push out in transition more so Cappie can get ahead. And Leilani is totally capable of kicking it ahead. She�s also crafty enough to get in the paint and get something. She�s been phenomenal in terms of working with other people.�

And to think many thought Mitchell would once again be a bench player entering this season.

With the acquisition of Pondexter and the loss of last season�s starter Loree Moore, it was unclear who Donovan would have run the point. Pondexter appeared to be the leading candidate early on, but Donovan saw Mitchell�s potential as a starter last season and turned to her to play alongside Pondexter in the backcourt instead.

�I had talked to Anne when I was still overseas,� Mitchell said. �She kind of gave me the situation and said if I come ready to play then there�s no reason I couldn�t be a starter.�

We are 13 games into the summer and Mitchell has started 13 games. It�s clear that Mitchell listened to her coach.

�She�s somebody who went off last season and I really talked to her directly about things she had to do in order to come back and help us,� Donovan said. �And at that point she didn�t know what her status coming back would be. I asked her to be more aggressive defensively and more aggressive offensively and look for her own offense better and be more vocal. She�s done all those even better than I anticipated.�

Perhaps Mitchell�s biggest improvement has been in her shooting, especially from beyond the arc. Entering Tuesday night�s matchup in Los Angeles, she was averaging 8.1 points while shooting an incredible 46.2 percent from downtown, which ranks second in the WNBA. She has made eight of her previous 12 shot attempts from beyond the arc, including a 6-for-8 3-point shooting performance en route to a career-high 20 points last week against Tulsa.

Last summer, she shot 30 percent from the field.

�Last year, my confidence was kind of up and down,� said Mitchell, who entered the season with only seven starts through her first two years in the league. �I know I�m a good shooter and just being able to have the confidence to take that shot I know that my teammates trust me.�

Not only do her teammates and coaches trust her, they also look for her to be a leader. Still, it seems as though Mitchell doesn�t know how important she is to the Liberty having success this season.

�We have a great team,� Mitchell said. �So I�m not asked to do too much except have a presence on the court and make sure the team is together and everyone is on the same page.

�Obviously everyone on our team is very talented. We have a lot of great players and everyone has experience. It�s been good. They�re helping me and we help each other.�

See Leilani and the Liberty in action, all summer long at The World's Most Famous Arena. Tickets, beginning at $10, are on sale now by clicking here, visiting The Garden Box Office or calling 877-WNBA-TIX.