Friday, Sep. 25, 2009

Leilani led WNBA in assist category

By Eric Degerman, sportstricities.com

There's still a cutout of her on the home page of the New York Liberty, and while she led the WNBA in one key category, it was a disappointing campaign for the club and one of uncertainty for Kennewick grad Leilani Mitchell.

The Liberty missed the playoffs, and the 24-year-old point guard from the University of Utah (via Idaho) started just two games and averaged 12.8 minutes per game. During her rookie season, she started five games and logged 15.2 mpg.

However, guess who led the association in assists per turnover ratio? Leilani Mitchell (NYL) with 2.92. It wasn't even close with Kristi Harrower of the Los Angeles Stars at second with 2.56 APT.

Mitchell also ranked third in assists per 40 minutes at 6.98. Ticha Penicheiro of Sacramento topped the WNBA at 8.56.

Anne Donovan, who coached Team USA to gold in the 2008 Olympics and directed the Seattle Storm to the title in 2004, took over as the Liberty's interim coach on July 31 from Pat Coyle. It was Coyle who traded for Mitchell in 2008.

It's unclear what Donovan's future with the Liberty will be, but it appears as if she was giving Mitchell a longer look at the end of the season. Her minutes picked up of the final couple of weeks, logging season-high 31 in a home loss to Indiana and 23 in the season finale — a rout of visiting Washington. In that closing game, she hit one 3-pointer, picked off two rebounds and had six assists vs. just one turnover.