July 19, 2001

By JIM FURLONG
The Herald-Sun

After a slow start to her WNBA career, former Duke All-American Georgia Schweitzer is getting more playing time.

Schweitzer, the 2000 and 2001 ACC women's player of the year, scored double figures in three consecutive games for the Minnesota Lynx. Last Friday against the New York Liberty, the former Blue Devils captain scored a pro career-high 14 points in 38 minutes and also contributed eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.

She is being used as a combo guard for the Lynx, who took a 6-12 record into Wednesday night's home game against the Seattle Storm.

Schweitzer scored only 11 points in the first 14 Minnesota games as she was playing behind the WNBA's leading scorer, Katie Smith.

"When I first got here there was so much new to learn and it took awhile to adjust and to understand that a lot of things were different than what I was used to in college," Schweitzer said.

"I definitely feel I have a confidence [that] I didn't have at the beginning [of the season]."

Another former Blue Devils standout, Michele VanGorp, is warming the Minnesota bench. VanGorp, the starting center when Duke advanced to the 1999 NCAA Tournament title game in San Jose, has played 52 minutes and scored 13 points for the Lynx this season.

Former North Carolina standout LaQuanda Barksdale and former N.C. State standout Tynesha Lewis are WNBA rookies like Schweitzer.

Barksdale was a first-round draft pick by the Portland Fire, but she has been injured and has appeared in only two games.

Lewis is playing for the Houston Comets, the defending league champion. The ex-Wolfpack guard has averaged 11.4 minutes in 16 games, totaling 53 points and 29 rebounds for the season.

Former UNC standout and current UNC assistant women's coach Sylvia Crawley has started all 18 games for the Fire. The slender center is averaging 9.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

Release on Herald-Sun