May 16, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Four former Lady Lions, Helen Darling, Kelly Mazzante, Tanisha Wright and Kam Gissendanner, are on WNBA rosters as the regular-season kicks off with a slate of six games on Saturday. Penn State's four players in the WNBA are the most among Big Ten schools.
Highlighting Saturday's match-ups is a battle between Mazzante and the Phoenix Mercury and Gissendanner and the Los Angeles Sparks on ABC at 3:30 p.m. Also on Saturday, Darling's San Antonio Silverstars will travel to Sacramento to face the Monarchs at 10 p.m. on NBA TV, while Wright and the Seattle Storm host Chicago at 10 p.m.
Darling enters her second season with the San Antonio Silverstars and eighth season in the league overall. She accounted for 7.0 points, 2.5 assists and 1.5 rebounds in a pair of preseason outings. Last season, Darling started 19 of the 33 games that she played, contributing 4.1 points, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Darling ranked sixth in the WNBA steals per 40 minutes and seventh in assists per 40 minutes a year ago. For her career, Darling averages 4.6 points, 3.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.1 rebounds per game.
Mazzante is in her second season with the defending WNBA Champion Phoenix Mercury and her fifth WNBA season overall. In her only preseason appearance, she led the team with 20 points, four assists and two steals. During the off-season, Mazzante and Mercury teammates Diana Taurasi and Kelly Miller led Russia's Spartak squad to their second-straight EuroLeague Women's title. Mazzante chipped in 5.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 34 games for Phoenix a year ago. She was also solid for the Mercury in their run to the WNBA title last season accounting for 6.4 points and 2.0 rebounds per playoff outing, which included a 12-point, two-rebound performance in the deciding game of the WNBA Final. In her four seasons in the WNBA, Mazzante is averaging 4.9 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.
Wright is in her fourth season with the Seattle Storm. She had a career year for the Storm last season as she posted career-highs in points (139), assists (69), steals (31), three-point field goal percentage (.273) and free throw percentage (.846). Wright was solid for Seattle in the playoffs last season, accounting for 9.0 points, 2.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game. Wright is averaging 3.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists with a 79.2% free throw percentage in her WNBA career.
Gissendanner signed a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Sparks, who are the preseason favorite to win the WNBA title with the return of Lisa Leslie and the addition for No. 1 pick Candace Parker, in April. In three preseason games, Gissendanner averaged 10.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.0 steals. She also shot an outstanding 63.2% from the field and 60% from beyond the arc.