Chicago’s Elena Delle Donne top vote-getter in 2013 WNBA All-Star balloting
From the WNBA:
Chicago Sky guard/forward Elena Delle Donne led all players with 35,646 votes following final returns of the 2013 WNBA All-Star balloting. Los Angeles Sparks forward Candace Parker, the 2008 WNBA MVP, topped the Western Conference and ranked second overall with 33,810 votes.
Delle Donne, the No. 2 overall selection in the 2013 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm, is the first WNBA rookie ever to earn the top spot. Fellow rookie and No. 1 overall pick, Brittney Griner (22,185) of the Phoenix Mercury, will be in the starting lineup for the West, marking the first time in WNBA history that the top two draft picks will be among the All-Star starters as rookies.
The Connecticut Sun will host the WNBA All-Star Game for the third time in franchise history on Saturday, July 27. ABC will broadcast the game live at 3:30 p.m. ET from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Joining Delle Donne in the Eastern Conference starting lineup are five-time All-Star (2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013) Cappie Pondexter of the New York Liberty (18,265), and two-time All-Star (2011, 2013) Epiphanny Prince of the Sky (16,083) at the guard positions. Pondexter will be making her second start, Prince her first.
Also starting in the frontcourt for the East will be eight-time All-Star (2002-03, 2005-07, 2009, 2011, 2013) Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever (27,921), as well as two-time selection (2011, 2013) Angel McCoughtry of the Atlanta Dream (18,523). Catchings, the 2011 WNBA MVP and 2012 WNBA Finals MVP, has been voted as a starter for every All-Star game since her rookie season; McCoughtry, the 2009 Rookie of the Year, was a starter in her prior All-Star appearance.
The Western Conference lineup will feature five No. 1 overall draft picks, including the top selections from 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2013.
Alongside Griner and Parker in the West frontcourt will be Maya Moore of the Minnesota Lynx (31,635). Parker, the 2008 No. 1 pick, and Moore, the first player tabbed in 2011, were each selected as All-Star starters for the second time. Parker was unable to play due to injury in 2011.
The starting guards for the West will be six-time All-Star Diana Taurasi of the Mercury (26,019), and four-time All-Star Seimone Augustus of the Lynx (18,454). Like Catchings, Taurasi, the 2009 regular season and Finals MVP, has been voted as a starter for every All-Star Game since she entered the league. Augustus, the 2011 WNBA Finals MVP and the first player taken in the 2006 draft, will make her first All-Star start.
Following are the starting lineups for the 2013 Boost Mobile WNBA All-Star Game:
Eastern Conference Starters:
Cappie Pondexter (New York Liberty)
Epiphanny Prince (Chicago Sky)
Elena Delle Donne (Chicago Sky)
Tamika Catchings  (Indiana Fever)
Angel McCoughtry (Atlanta Dream)
Western Conference Starters:
Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury)
Seimone Augustus (Minnesota Lynx)
Candace Parker (Los Angeles Sparks)
Maya Moore (Minnesota Lynx)
Brittney Griner (Phoenix Mercury)
The 12 WNBA head coaches will select the reserves by voting for six players within their own conference, including two guards and four frontcourt players. Coaches are not permitted to vote for players on their own team. The league will announce the reserves during a nationally televised game between the Liberty and the Fever on ESPN2, Tuesday, July 23 at 7 p.m. ET.
Replacement players, who will take the roster spot of players who cannot play due to injury, will be named by WNBA President Laurel J. Richie. Any changes to the starting lineup necessitated by injury will be made by the head coach of the respective All-Star team.
By virtue of winning their respective conference titles last season, Indiana head coach Lin Dunn will coach the Eastern Conference, and the Western Conference will be led by Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve.
