McWilliams' stats are All-Star quality

By ANTONYA ENGLISH

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 8, 2000

Orlando's Taj McWilliams is expected to earn her second consecutive trip to the All-Star Game when the league announces the starters today.

Friday, McWilliams led all centers with 10,128 votes, about 1,200 more than Charlotte's Rhonda Mapp (8,935) and more than 1,700 ahead of Indiana's Kara Wolters (8,351).

Almost 500,000 votes have been tallied since voting began June 7. Voters will select two guards, two forwards and one center.

McWilliams, selected to the innaugural All-Star Game last season, is on a roll for the Miracle.

In Thursday night's 72-60 win over Indiana, she tied her season high of 22 points. She is averaging 12.9 points and 7.6 rebounds for the Eastern Conference's best team. "I can't say enough about Taj," coach Carolyn Peck said. "She comes to play every single night, and she battles for us."

The Miracle is on a four-game winning streak heading into tonight's game against the Seattle Storm.

EXPANSION BLUES: With former ABL players at their disposal before their inaugural seasons, the Miracle and Minnesota Lynx avoided the struggles expansion teams usually face. Both were competitive last year, with the Miracle missing the playoffs by one game.

The Storm hasn't been as fortunate.

Seattle is 3-14, losing its first five games by an average of 17.2 points. The Storm opened the season 0-4, defeated struggling Charlotte and managed to earn a 10-point win over the Western Conference powerhouse Los Angeles Sparks on June 13. Since, the Storm has earned one victory, 67-60 over Minnesota on Wednesday, but its losses have been by an average of 5.3 points. In nine games, the Storm kept its opponent below its scoring average, among them Los Angeles, Portland and Utah, which are in the league's top five in scoring.

Seattle coach Lin Dunn has ignored the negatives and concentrated on what is right.

"You can't judge success by wins and losses, but by improvement," Dunn said. "I can take heartbreak as long as we keep fighting and put ourselves in a position to win. If you put a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old out on a basketball court and ask them to race to the end line, who do you think would win?"

Guard Edna Campbell leads the Storm in scoring with 15.5 points per game, and Kamila Vodichkova is second with 10.9 points. l Vodichkova averages 5.1 rebounds. Dunn said she hopes the addition of guard Michelle Edwards, traded from Cleveland, will help the inconsistent offense.

Edwards is coming off the bench and averaging 22.4 minutes, and contributing 7.2 points and a team-leading 2.6 assists.

"She doesn't even know the system, but she's a ballplayer," Dunn said.

REBOUNDING WELL: After being waived by the Miracle in May, Sheri Sam headed south to the expansion Miami Sol.

Sam, a former Vanderbilt and ABL standout forward, has been a bright spot for the 6-11 team.

She leads the Sol in scoring with 13.3 points and is averaging 4.5 rebounds. In Orlando last season, Sam averaged 11.4 points but never found a definitive role. Sol coach Ron Rothstein said Sam has been a perfect fit she was acquired June 1.

"She's working hard," Rothstein said. "I have no complaints whatsoever. It's not easy to come onto a team that has already been together and catch up to things at the level Sheri is. All of the credit for that goes to her work ethic."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

Headlines

Americans Lose in 1st Round of Davis Cup

---