DeForge Earns Start in WNBA All-Star Game

Lincoln - Former Nebraska women's basketball star Anna DeForge was named one of the starting five for the Eastern Conference in the WNBA All-Star Game, the league announced this week. The Indiana Fever guard earned her second trip to the WNBA All-Star Game and will become the first Husker in history to start in the league's mid-season showcase.

DeForge, who earned honorable-mention All-America honors as Husker in 1997 and 1998, heads into tonight's regular-season game at Los Angeles averaging 8.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game for the 11-4 Fever. Indiana is tied with the Detroit Shock atop the Eastern Conference standings.

The WNBA All-Star Game will be televised live nationally on ABC on Sunday, July 15 at 2:30 p.m. central time.

DeForge earned her first appearance in the WNBA All-Star Game as a member of the Phoenix Mercury in 2004. She finished the season ranked 10th in the league with 14.4 points per game, while leading the WNBA in minutes played and three-pointers made (70). She added 3.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game on the year.

In 2005, she continued to rank among the league's top players with 13.1 points, 3.5 boards, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game for the Phoenix.

She was traded to Indiana before the 2006 season and enjoyed a strong season by averaging 10.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for the Fever.

DeForge's professional career began as a second-round draft pick of the San Jose Lasers in the 1999 American Basketball League Draft. She was also the first Nebraska player to earn a spot on a WNBA regular-season roster after starting the 2000 season with the Detroit Shock. DeForge averaged 5.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game as a WNBA rookie.

In 2003, she led the Phoenix Mercury with 11.9 points per game to go along with 3.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest.

A two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection at Nebraska, DeForge earned her one of five spots on Nebraska's All-Century Team announced in February of 2000. She ranks fifth in total points (1,859), fourth in total rebounds (804), fifth in assists (392) and sixth in steals (222) in school history. Her 15.9 points per game rank as the seventh-highest career average and her 6.9 rebounds per game rank eighth all time at Nebraska.

The Niagara, Wis., helped the Huskers to the second NCAA Tournament victory in school history with a 76-59 drubbing of New Mexico at Norfolk, Va., on March 13, 1998, DeForge scored 13 points to go along with a career-high tying 15 rebounds and six assists. She added 17 points and nine rebounds in the final game of her Husker career in a 75-60 loss at No. 2 Old Dominion in the tournament's second round.