Grammy Award-Winning Artist Faith Evans to Perform at WNBA All-Star 2005

Grammy Award-Winning Artist Faith Evans to Perform at WNBA All-Star 2005

- WNBA Fans and Viewers Worldwide to Share in All-Star Excitement -

NEW YORK, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Grammy Award-winning singer Faith Evans will perform the U.S. national anthem before the WNBA All-Star Game at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. The anthem performance will be featured as part of the WNBA All-Star Shootaround pregame show on ESPN2, which begins at 3:30 p.m. ET. The WNBA All-Star Game will take place on Saturday, July 9 at 4:00 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally on ABC.

Since her debut in 1997, Evans has released three platinum albums with her fourth and latest album, THE FIRST LADY, already reaching certified gold since its release in April. In addition to her performance to tip off the All-Star Game, Evans will be appearing throughout the country as part of her Summer 2005 tour.

In addition to the ABC telecast, the All-Star Game will be broadcast in 193 countries by 52 telecasters in 31 languages giving fans the chance to witness the world's best women's basketball. Following are the starting lineups for the Western and Eastern Conferences for the 2005 WNBA All-Star Game:

Western Conference: *Sue Bird (Seattle Storm) Guard Marie Ferdinand (San Antonio Silver Stars) Guard *Yolanda Griffith (Sacramento Monarchs) Center Chamique Holdsclaw (Los Angeles Sparks) Forward *Lauren Jackson (Seattle Storm) Forward Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks) Center Katie Smith (Minnesota Lynx) Guard Michelle Snow (Houston Comets) Center *Sheryl Swoopes (Houston Comets) Forward *Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury) Guard DeMya Walker (Sacramento Monarchs) Forward

Eastern Conference: Alana Beard (Washington Mystics) Guard *Swin Cash (Detroit Shock) Forward *Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever) Forward Cheryl Ford (Detroit Shock) Forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin (Connecticut Sun) Forward *Becky Hammon (New York Liberty) Guard Deanna Nolan (Detroit Shock) Guard *Ruth Riley (Detroit Shock) Center Nykesha Sales (Connecticut Sun) Guard *Dawn Staley (Charlotte Sting) Guard Ann Wauters (New York Liberty) Center

*denotes starters

The WNBA is playing out its ninth season under the leadership of new President Donna Orender. In 2004, for the sixth consecutive season, more than two million fans attended WNBA games. Also in 2004, three consecutive WNBA Finals sellout crowds witnessed the Seattle Storm defeat the Connecticut Sun to capture its first WNBA Championship. WNBA programming is broadcast on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and NBA TV. For more information, visit http://wnba.com/.

Source: WNBA

CONTACT: Dina Pappas of WNBA, +1-212-407-8840, dpappas@wnba.com

Web site: http://www.wnba.com/

------- Profile: Ent