Latta nearly in MVP consideration at 2013 All-Star Game

Indiana Fever head coach Lin Dunn showed Ivory Latta some love, saying she was so happy to see Ivory in her first all-star game. She also gave Latta more playing time than anybody else on the East team.

By Zachary Ward Jul 28, 2013, 11:00am EDT

Ivory Latta got poked in the eye by Maya Moore in the first quarter, but all Mystics players emerged from the All-Star Game in one piece and they managed to have a little fun too.

Latta tied an East high in points, as both she and Chicago Sky guard Epiphanny Prince scored 15. Both knocked down a game-high four 3-pointers. If the East had won the game, both could have had a case for MVP.

One of Latta's threes came off a designed play by East head coach Lin Dunn of the defending champion Indiana Fever. Dunn said in a sideline interview during the game that she knows what Ivory is capable of having played her three times so far this season and added that she was happy to see the six-year veteran getting to play in her first all-star game. Dunn also played Latta for 22 minutes and 20 seconds, more than anybody else on the East.

The other Mystics representative in the All-Star Game, Crystal Langhorne, had six points and played 14 minutes and 25 seconds in what was her second all-star appearance. All three of her baskets came on mid-range shots. In 2011, Langhorne scored five points and had six rebounds, while leading the East in playing time with 21 minutes and 33 seconds.

Latta scored six points in both the first and third quarters and added three in the fourth. Langhorne was also held scoreless in the second and had two points in each of the other quarters. The two of them spent a lot of time on the floor together.

However, it was a tandem from a Western Conference team that stole the show. Los Angeles Sparks forward/center Candace Parker set a new record for points in a WNBA all-star game with 23 and her teammate Kristi Toliver - Langhorne's college teammate - had 21. The other West players in double figures were all members of the Minnesota Lynx: Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus and Rebekkah Brunson. So it was somewhat fitting that two of the strongest teams in the league dominated the All-Star Game. Lynx and Sparks players did all the scoring for the West in the fourth, as they helped their all-star team come back from down seven after three and win, 102-98.