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After 12 hours in the air, after starting in Slovakia and passing through Prague and Amsterdam, and after waking up at 4 a.m., Angel McCoughtry could be excused for not knowing exactly where she was Friday. She had spent most of a day traveling to Dallas to represent the WNBA in this weekend's NBA All-Star festivities, one of 13 players from the women's league chosen to join the elite of pro basketball. It was an honor bestowed upon the Baltimore native after just one season with the Atlanta Dream, that following a dream career at the University of Louisville.

FRIDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS Arena Orlando@New Orleans NFL8 NASCAR Sprint Cup Showdown: qualifying SPEED5 Sprint Cup All-Star: qualifying SPEED6 CW Truck N.C. Education Lottery 200 SPEED8 MLB Orioles@Kansas City (T) MASN9 a.m. Pittsburgh@Washington (T) MASN12:30 White Sox@Cubs WGN-A2:10 Orioles@Washington MASN, MASN27 Boston@Philadelphia MLB7 Orioles@Washington (T)

The Washington Mystics signed free agent Katie Smith , whom general manager Angela Taylor called "the LeBron James of this free-agency process" and "the Wilt Chamberlain or the Michael Jordan of the WNBA." Smith, 35, is the third-leading scorer in WNBA history and, when points from the American Basketball League are added in, the highest scorer in U.S. women's professional basketball. The 5-foot-11 guard helped the Detroit Shock win two WNBA championships and was the Most Valuable Player of the 2008 Finals.

WNBA draft Terps ' Barrett, Kizer selected among top 30 Maryland point guard Anjalé Barrett and center Lynetta Kizer were selected in the top 30 of the WNBA draft Monday afternoon. Barrett was picked 26th overall and went to the Washington Mystics, to join former teammate Crystal Langhorne . Kizer went to the Tulsa Shock two picks later. Barrett finished her senior season second in the Atlantic Coast Conference in assists (4.9) and assist-turnover ratio (1.8)

The WNBA has basked in the spotlight in its inaugural season, making it seem like the first professional women's basketball success story in the United States. But although the first season of its cold-weather counterpart, the American Basketball League, went widely unnoticed, it apparently has the makings of a legitimate rival.The ABL operates in eight smaller cities and had attendance figures considerably lower than the Women's National Basketball Association's in its first season, which ended in March, but the ABL attracted some of the best young talent out of colleges, signing the last two collegiate players of the year.

HOUSTON - Less than happy with her diminished role in the Houston Comets' offense, three-time WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player Cynthia Cooper said Monday night that she will retire at the end of the 2000 season. "This is my last year in the league," Cooper said. "I will retire after this year. "With different things that have happened this year, and obviously last year, just the things that are going on now, I think it's time for me to move on. I know it's going to make a lot of people happy that I'm, to use a cliche, passing the torch.

She couldn't get her national team into the Olympics and barely scored in double figures playing in the Spanish League, so Malgorzata Dydek would seem an unlikely candidate to be among the top picks in today's Women's NBA draft in Secaucus, N.J.But "7 feet 2" changes things, especially when paired with phrases like "agile" and "skilled" -- terms used by coaches and general managers to describe the Polish center, who made a big splash at the league's pre-draft...

From a seat in the Boston Garden, Amy Rosenfeld watched Edmonton's Petr Klima score the winning goal in overtime of the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals opener against the Bruins and she cried.For a true sports fan, such a reaction is understandable, but Rosenfeld said that's exactly what she doesn't want to bring to Lifetime's coverage of the WNBA, which she produces."I produced Red Sox games for a year," said Rosenfeld, a Boston native, "and sometimes it [sports] becomes like part of your being.

Sonia Chase, of McDonogh and the University of Maryland, was one of six college seniors to sign with the Women's National Basketball Association, the league announced yesterday.Described by league player personnel director Renee Brown as a "quick athlete who can shoot off the dribble." Chase, 22, was Maryland's second-leading scorer. She averaged 13.6 points for the Terps (15-13) and led the Atlantic Coast Conference with 89 steals.Brown said that Chase will be one of 65 to 70 players to participate in the WNBA's pre-draft camp, April 16-18 in Chicago.

WASHINGTON - WNBA president Val Ackerman thinks her fledgling league has a good product to sell, assuming that people want to come to see it. Ackerman, who met with reporters at MCI Center before last night's Washington Mystics-New York Liberty game, said the 7-year old league is "in as good a shape as it's ever been," despite attendance figures that continue to fall. Ten of the league's 14 franchises are off in attendance from this time last season, and only five teams are averaging more than the league average of 8,687, which is down 7 percent from last season and nearly 2,000 off the average in the second season.

Loyola men's basketball Patsos wins Skip Prosser Award Loyola men's basketball coach Jimmy Patsos was named the 2012 recipient of the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award on Friday night at an awards banquet hosted by CollegeInsider.com at the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. The award is named in honor and memory of Prosser, who was coach at Loyola, Xavier and Wake Forest before dying in July 2007. It recognizes coaches who achieve success on the basketball court and display moral integrity off it. Patsos recently completed his eighth season at Loyola, a year during which he guided the Greyhounds to a 24-9 overall record and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship for the first time since 1994.

Et cetera McCoughtry sets mark but Dream falls to Lynx in Game 2 of WNBA Finals Atlanta Dream guard Angel McCoughtry (St. Frances) scored a WNBA Finals-record 38 points but was limited to five points on 1-for-7 shooting in the fourth quarter Wednesday as the host Minnesota Lynx rallied for a 101-95 win in Game 2. McCoughtry had 24 points in the first half; she held the previous scoring record of 35 points, set in last year's Finals. Seimone Augustus scored 15 of her franchise-playoff record 36 points in the last quarter and totaled eight rebounds to lead the Lynx.

WEDNESDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS NASCAR Sprint Cup AdvoCare 500 (T) SPEEDNoon MLB Dodgers@Washington (T) MASN9:30 a.m. Orioles@Yankees MASN1 Atlanta@Philadelphia ESPN7 Dodgers@Washington MASN7 Seattle@Angels ESPN10 Orioles@Yankees (T) MASN11:30 Atlanta@Philadelphia (T) ESPN3 a.m. WNBA Washington@Indiana NBA7 Washington@Indiana (T)

College football Maryland quarterback O'Brien is ACC Rookie of the Week For the third time this season, Maryland quarterback Danny O'Brien has been voted the Atlantic Coast Conference's Rookie of the Week. The redshirt freshman from North Carolina completed 13 of 20 passes for 168 yards and a career-best four touchdowns in Maryland's 62-14 win over Wake Forest. O'Brien, who threw no interceptions, had an efficiency rating of 201.56 — the eighth best mark for a Football Bowl Subdivision freshman this season.

Et cetera Storm wins WNBA crown; McCoughtry's 35 not enough The Seattle Storm beat the host Atlanta Dream, 87-84, on Thursday night to complete a three-game sweep in the WNBA Finals and an undefeated march through the postseason. Swin Cash led a balanced Seattle offense with 18 points as the Storm overcame 35 points by Atlanta second-year pro Angel McCoughtry (St. Frances). Seattle won each of its seven postseason games for its second WNBA title. The Storm also won the 2004 championship.

WNBA Finals Injured McCoughtry misses at buzzer in Dream's Game 1 loss Sue Bird made a tiebreaking jumper from the foul line with 2.6seconds left and the Seattle Storm defeated the Atlanta Dream, 79-77, in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday. Angel McCoughtry (St.Frances) had a last-second try for the Dream, but her long 3-pointer from the left side bounced off the far side of the rim at the buzzer. McCoughtry, who had 19 points, tying Iziane Castro Marques for team high, wound up with three stitches in her forehead after a collision with Seattle's Jana Vesela with 8:59 to play.

The Washington Mystics acquired former University of Maryland standout Vicky Bullett from the Charlotte Sting yesterday for forward Shalonda Enis and the 34th pick in this year's WNBA draft. Bullett, a 6-foot-3 forward, averaged 11.5 points and 6.8 rebounds last season for Charlotte and was a member of the Fluminense/Data Control team that won the Brazilian national championship in 1997-98. She led Maryland to three Atlantic Coast Conference championships and two NCAA tournament appearances, averaging 16.9 points and 8.5 rebounds from 1985 to 1989.

WASHINGTON - For Sue Wicks, the chance to talk about the state of women's professional basketball in this country is a chance to wax poetic about the WNBA. Wicks, 35, a forward for the New York Liberty, has been around long enough to remember the days when the top female collegiate players all had to head to Europe or Japan to ply their trades as professionals. Many still do, during the fall and winter, but, come summer, they also have the WNBA, and Wicks couldn't be happier. "All these things, they're amazing when you think about them, as we go through these processes," Wicks said before Saturday's Liberty-Washington Mystics game here.

WNBA McCoughtry's 32 help Dream to overtime win against Sun Angel McCoughtry (St. Frances) and Iziane Castro Marques each scored 32 points to lead the Atlanta Dream to a 108-103 overtime victory against the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday night. Erika DeSouza had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Eastern Conference-leading Dream (14-5), winners of five of their past six games. McCoughtry and Alison Bales — starting in place of the injured Sancho Lyttle — had 10rebounds each.

WNBA Langhorne's career-best 31 points lift Mystics, 95-85 Crystal Langhorne (Maryland) scored a career-high 31points and added 10 rebounds and the Washington Mystics (9-5) won their fourth straight home game with a 95-85 win over the Phoenix Mercury (5-9) on Sunday. Lindsey Harding added 24 points for the Mystics (9-5), who have won five of their past six. Langhorne scored 27 points Thursday and has averaged 27.6 points and 13 rebounds in her past three games. Elsewhere: Iziane Castros Marques had 25points and Angel McCoughtry (St. Frances)