Moore, Delle Donne lead ASG starters

ByMECHELLE VOEPEL
July 19, 2014, 12:25 PM

— -- The "3 To See" from the 2013 WNBA draft class -- Phoenix's Brittney Griner, Chicago's Elena Delle Donne and Tulsa's Skylar Diggins -- all have been voted All-Star starters in their sophomore seasons in the league.

Tuesday night, the WNBA announced the starters for its upcoming All-Star Game, which will be played July 19 in Phoenix (ESPN, 3:30 p.m. ET). The three second-year pros will be joined as All-Star starters by Atlanta rookie Shoni Schimmel, who was the No. 8 pick overall in the 2014 draft.

The top vote-getter overall was no surprise: Minnesota forward Maya Moore, who is the league's leading scorer at 22.8 points per game. She got 28,389 votes. Also voted to start for the Western Conference along with Moore, Diggins, and Griner are Phoenix's Diana Taurasi and Los Angeles' Candace Parker.

Delle Donne, who was the leading vote-getter for last year's All-Star Game, was second overall in balloting this season at 26,129. Along with Delle Donne and Schimmel, the East starters voted in are Indiana's Tamika Catchings, Atlanta's Angel McCoughtry and New York's Cappie Pondexter.

Catchings, who appeared in her first game of this 2014 season on Saturday after dealing with back issues, has made all nine All-Star Games since her rookie season in 2002.

Six reserves for both teams will be chosen by the coaches in each conference, but they are not allowed to vote for their own players. The reserves -- two guards, three frontcourt players and a player from either spot -- will be announced July 15 during the Sparks-Fever game on ESPN2 (8 p.m. ET).

Replacements to fill in for injured or ill players will be chosen by WNBA president Laurel Richie.

The All-Star teams' coaches -- Minnesota's Cheryl Reeve for the West and Atlanta's Michael Cooper for the East -- are the ones who will decide on which reserve would replace any starter who is unable to compete. That seems likely to be the case for Delle Donne, who is dealing with the effects of Lyme disease and hasn't played for the Sky since June 25. Delle Donne appeared in just three of Chicago's nine games in June.