Mone, Syl, Team USA to play exhibition games in September

In its final domestic tune-up prior to the 2010 FIBA World Championship, the USA Basketball Women’s National Team will host Australia and Spain in a pair of exhibition contests at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., on Sept. 10 and 12, USA Basketball and the XL Center today announced. The U.S. will take on defending world champion Australia on Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m. (all times EDT) and Spain, the No. 5-ranked women’s program in the world, on Sept. 12 (time TBD). Tickets will go on sale this Friday, July 16 at 10:00 a.m. and will be available online at www.ticketmaster.com, through Ticketmaster charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and in person at the XL Center box office. Ticket prices range from $75, $50, $30, $20 and $10 respectively, additional fees may apply.   

In addition to the USA exhibition games, the University of Hartford will play host to an exhibition between Australia and Spain on Sept. 11 at 2:00 p.m.

“One of the things you always want to do is to try to play some really good competition leading up to the (FIBA) World Championship,” said 2009-12 USA Basketball Women’s National Team and University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma. “Usually those games are held overseas where we don’t have a lot of fans. It’s fortunate for us that we’re able to get teams of the caliber of Spain and Australia, two of the top five teams in the world, to come to Hartford and play exhibition games. I think people here in the Hartford area, in Connecticut especially, appreciate women’s basketball as much, if not more, than any other place in the country. I think those two teams will get a great reception and people will get a chance to see what we’re going to be seeing in the Czech Republic. I’m excited for our team. I’m excited for our fans. I’m excited for the city of Hartford, and I’m really appreciative of the XL Center for working with us to put that together.”

The U.S. has faced Australia 14 times in exhibition games and official FIBA events over the past decade. In addition to the USA’s victories over Australia in each of the last three Olympic gold medal games, the U.S. in 2002 defeated Australia 71-56 in the FIBA World Championship semifinal contest, and owns an 8-2 record over Australia in various exhibition games since the turn of the century.

The USA and Spain are less familiar as the teams have played each other just five times since 2000. The USA topped Spain 90-56 and 94-55 at the 2006 and 2002 FIBA World Championship, respectively, collected a pair of Olympic victories over Spain in 2004 (71-58) and 2008 (93-55), and defeated Spain 77-61 in a 2004 pre-Olympic exhibition game.

Members of the 2009-12 USA Basketball Women’s National Team are Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx), Alana Beard (Washington Mystics), Sue Bird (Seattle Storm), Swin Cash (Seattle Storm), Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Tina Charles (Connecticut Sun), Shameka Christon (Chicago Sky), Candice Dupree (Phoenix Mercury), Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky), Lindsey Harding (Washington Mystics), Asjha Jones (Connecticut Sun), Kara Lawson (Connecticut Sun), Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream), Renee Montgomery (Connecticut Sun), Maya Moore (University of Connecticut), Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks), Cappie Pondexter (New York Liberty), Diana Taurasi  (Phoenix Mercury), Lindsay Whalen (Minnesota Lynx) and Candice Wiggins (Minnesota Lynx).

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Filed under  //  Alumni   Seimone Augustus   Sylvia Fowles   Team USA   WNBA  
Posted by Bob Starkey 

Syl follows up All-Star performance with double-double

Less that 24 hours after capturing the MVP award in the USA-WNBA All-Star Game, Sylvia Fowles turned in a double-double against the New York Liberty but it was not enough to lead the Sky to victory.  Big Syl scored 12 points on only 9 shots but grabbed a season high 19 rebounds.  She also had 3 assists and blocked 4 shots.

Box Score: http://bit.ly/aUwUK3

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Filed under  //  Alumni   Sylvia Fowles   WNBA  
Posted by Bob Starkey 

What they're saying about Big Syl

DIANA TAURASI: “It’s huge for Sylvia, because Sylvia is someone that when she’s confident is unstoppable. Then you see the other side of Sylvia, which is the passive side that we’re trying to elude from her body, because when she plays focused and determined there’s no one like her in the world.”

SUE BIRD: “She’s just nice by nature, just very nice and gentle, a gentle giant. So you have to get on her to get her to play that way. I’ve played over in Russia with her for the last two years and I know that. And when you do get on her, the best part about Syl is that she responds immediately.  The only person who can stop her really is herself, as cliché as that is, but it’s very true in Sylvia’s case.”

KATIE DOUGLAS:  “I see way too much of her,” Douglas said with a laugh. “I saw a lot of her tonight. I saw a lot of the back of her jersey and that’s not what I like to see because that normally means she’s scoring buckets. Obviously she’s a premier post in this league; she’s such a dominant force and demands so much attention.”

SWIN CASH: She’s grown, but Sylvia can take it to another level."

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Filed under  //  Alumni   Sylvia Fowles   Team USA   WNBA  
Posted by Bob Starkey 

Big Syl goes "Beast Mode" to capture All-Star Game's MVP Award

The 2008 Olympics in Beijing was the last time the US National Team took the court in a major international competition. A quick look at that team’s roster shows the following post players: Sylvia Fowles,  Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson, and Candace Parker. 

When the US National Team begins the 2010 World Championships in September, the only player from that group that will wear the red, white and blue is Fowles. Both Leslie and Thompson have ended their USA Basketball careers and Parker is out after suffering a dislocated shoulder last month.

But considering the performance that Fowles put on during Saturday’s WNBA vs. USA Basketball game at Mohegan Sun, it appears the USA is going to be just fine in the post.

Fowles was named the Most Valuable Player of the game after scoring a game-high 23 points and grabbing eight rebounds in a performance more dominant than those numbers suggest. When the National Team pulled away from the WNBA Stars in the third quarter, Fowles was at her best, hitting layups and grabbing rebounds at will.

“That’s Sylvia. That’s what we need from Sylvia,” said USA teammate Diana Taurasi. “That’s a responsibility she has to put on herself and we’re going to need games like that throughout our quest to bring back a World Championship.”

As important as Fowles’ performance was to the National Team on Saturday, Taurasi believes it is just as beneficial for Fowles herself.

Read the article: http://bit.ly/ddNmEk

Check the Boxscore: http://bit.ly/d0W2zB

Filed under  //  Alumni   Sylvia Fowles   Team USA   WNBA  
Posted by Bob Starkey 

Big Syl helping CURE: Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy

Join Sylvia Fowles and CURE: Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy for the Official Chicago Sky Friday, July 23 game against the New York Liberty!

Purchase tickets at http://tinyurl.com/CURE2010 and enter promo code CURE or contact Shelli Anderson:
sanderson@chicagosky.net or 312.994.5980 to have a portion of your
...proceeds donated to CURE: Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy . As a spokesperson for CURE, Sylvia honors her nephew Morris who is affected by epilepsy.

If you would like to make a donation to CURE: Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy with Sylvia, but cannot attend the game log onto: http://tinyurl.com/CUREdonate and select "in honor."

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Filed under  //  Alumni   Community   Sylvia Fowles   WNBA  
Posted by Bob Starkey 

Big Syl WNBA Player of the Week....AGAIN!

NEW YORK, July 6, 2010Sylvia Fowles of the Chicago Sky and Lauren Jackson of the Seattle Storm were named the WNBA’s Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week presented by Kia Motors, respectively, for games played Monday, June 28 through Sunday, July 4.

This marks the first season that Kia Motors – an official WNBA marketing partner – has presented the WNBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week award.

Fowles and Jackson shared the top spot in rebounds for the week, each averaging 11.5 boards. Jackson led the league in scoring (25.5 ppg) and Fowles ranked second (24.0 ppg). Fowles also ranked atop the WNBA in blocks (3.5 bpg). This week marks Fowles’ second career Player of the Week presented by Kia Motors award, following her first honor on June 6 of this year.

Fowles posted a pair of double-doubles in leading Chicago to a 2-0 record during the week, giving the Sky four wins in a five-game stretch. The LSU product opened the week with 26 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks, and four assists in a win over Connecticut. She then led Chicago past the Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta Dream with 22 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

Fowles, who will play for the USA Women's National Team in the "WNBA vs. USA Basketball: The Stars at the Sun" contest on July 10, leads the WNBA in blocks (2.82 bpg), ranks fifth in scoring (18.9 ppg) and sixth in rebounding (8.9 rpg).

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Filed under  //  Alumni   Sylvia Fowles   WNBA  
Posted by Bob Starkey 

Lady Tigers on the tube tonight

It will be a great evening to park it in front of the television to watch some Lady Tigers in action tonight.

At 7:00 PM, on ESPN2 Allison Hightower and the Connecticut Sun will face Roneeka Hodges in San Antonio.  Then at 9:00 PM, still on ESPN2, Temeka Johnson and the Pheonix Mercury battle conference rival Marie Ferdinand's Los Angeles Sparks in LA.

Earlier in the evening, Sylvia Fowles and the Chicago Sky host the Indiana Fever but that will not be televised.

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Filed under  //  Alumni   Sylvia Fowles   Temeka Johnson   WNBA  
Posted by Bob Starkey 

Lady Tiger's "Miami Connection" score big last night in the WNBA

Only one team in the WNBA has defeated the Dream in Atlanta and that team is the Chicago Sky -- and now they've done it twice.  Sylvia Fowles leads the way again with another double-double tallying 22 points by hitting 7 of 12 shots and grabbing 12 rebounds along with 3 blocked shots.  But it was Syl's free throw shooting that put that game away as she hit two big ones with 20 seconds to play to ice the game away.  For the game, Syl hit 8 of 11 from the free throw line where she is shooting 81% for the year.

Chicago game story and box score: http://bit.ly/aU1Msp

In Tulsa, Scholanda Robinson stayed red-hot by against leading Tulsa in scoring with 16 points.  Sho-Time's numbers weren't enough however as the Shock lost to the Washington Mystics 69-54.

Tulsa game story and box score: http://bit.ly/9q7DSF 

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Filed under  //  Alumni   Sylvia Fowles   WNBA  
Posted by Bob Starkey 

LSU's big 3 (Augustus, Fowles, Johnson) put up big numers in W action last night

Last night, in Chicago's victory over league-leading Connecticut, Sylvia Fowles did everything but work the concession stands at half-time.  Big Syl's stat line against the first play Sun was spectacular hitting 11 of 14 shots, 4 of 5 free throws, grabbing 11 rebounds, blocking 5 shots, and passing off for 4 assists.

Guards Erin Thorn and Jia Perkins added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Forwards Sandrine Gruda and Asjha Jones led the Sun (10-6) with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Sun rookie center Tina Charles, the WNBA's No. 1 draft pick, was frustrated into foul trouble early on and limited to five points, on 2-for-9 shooting, and six rebounds. She came in averaging 15.9 points and 12.5 rebounds.

''I had no personal inspiration going up against Charles,'' said Fowles, who earlier in the day was named to Team USA for the game against WNBA stars on July 10. ''She's a very good player. I just wanted to do my best and slow things down and not necessarily stop her because she's usually going to get her points.''

Allison Hightower played little but made the most of her opportunity hitting a 3-pointer on her only field goal attempt.

Chicago/Connecticut Box & Game Story: http://bit.ly/cuPoMW

Temeka Johnson turned in her consecutive double-double effort last night but it was enough as Washington outscored Phoenix 107 to 104.  Meek was 6 of 10 from the floor including a three-point and chalked up 11 assists.

Phoenix Box & Game Story: http://bit.ly/9dIV4o

In Atlanta, Seimone Augusuts lead Minnesota with 17 points but it wasn't enough to defeat the dream. Mone was 8 of 15 from the floor and grabbed 3 boards and added to steals:

Minnesota Box & Game Story: http://bit.ly/9voMc4

 

Filed under  //  Alumni   Seimone Augustus   Sylvia Fowles   Temeka Johnson   WNBA  
Posted by Bob Starkey 

Big Syl "Most Improved" in WNBA thus far

An article at Full Court Press by Christopher Thompson:

But in addition to this elite group, there are some players who have taken a big step forward this season. This week we will take a look at the WNBA’s most improved players in 2010 and how they have shaped the early season.

The most improved player so far is Sylvia Fowles. Big Syl was a “can’t miss” prospect out of LSU two years ago but due to injuries and playing on a poor Chicago team, Fowles has been a bit of a disappointment. This year, she has stepped out of the shadows to become the best true center in the league. She is averaging 19.7 points per game, up from 10.9 her first two years and sixth in the WNBA in scoring this season. She is also second in the league in field-goal percentage (64.3 percentage) and leads the league in blocked shots (2.5 per game). This hasn’t yet translated into making Chicago (near the bottom of the East at 5-8) a title contender, but if she continues her strong play the Sky could squeak into the playoffs.

Read entire articel: http://bit.ly/dmVSWJ

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Filed under  //  Alumni   Sylvia Fowles   WNBA  
Posted by Bob Starkey