Washington's Miller Named 2002 WNBA Most Improved Player

NEW YORK, Aug. 15 -- Coco Miller of the Washington Mystics has been named the 2002 WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year after receiving 14 of a possible 60 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Other players receiving votes included New York�s Tamika Whitmore (12), Los Angeles� Mwadi Mabika (9) Sacramento�s Tangela Smith (5) and Portland�s DeMya Walker (5), among others.

Miller helped the Mystics to their best season and second playoff berth. Fernando Medina WNBAE/Getty Images

Miller finished the regular season as the Mystics third-leading scorer, averaging 9.3 points to go along with 2.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds per contest. The second-year guard, who never scored more than six points in a game during her rookie campaign, scored 13 points in Washington�s season opener against Orlando on June 1 and never looked back.

Miller set career highs in every statistical category this season. She started all 32 games for the Mystics and logged 28.3 minutes per contest, helping lead Washington to the WNBA Playoffs. Miller was selected by the Mystics in the first round (9th overall) of the 2001 WNBA Draft and averaged 1.7 points and 6.9 minutes in her rookie season.

As the WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year, Miller will receive a Tiffany-designed trophy and $5,000. The 60-member voting panel consisted of 12 national media representatives, as well as media representatives from each of the league�s 16 markets who cover the WNBA regularly.

Houston�s Janeth Arcain was named the WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year last season, and New York�s Tari Phillips captured the honor in 2000, the first year it was awarded.

2002 WNBA MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR RESULTS

Votes	Player	Team
14	Coco Miller	Washington Mystics
12	Tamika Whitmore	New York Liberty
9	Mwadi Mabika	Los Angeles Sparks
5	Tangela Smith	Sacramento Monarchs
5	DeMya Walker	Portland Fire
4	Tammy Sutton-Brown	Charlotte Sting
4	Pollyanna Johns-Kimbrough	Miami Sol
2	Penny Taylor	Cleveland Rockers
2	Kamila Vodichkova	Seattle Storm
1	Tamicha Jackson	Portland Fire
1	Adrienne Goodson	Utah Starzz
1	Kelly Miller	Charlotte Sting