Preseason All-Americans Have Company

Kara Wolters of Connecticut, La’Keshia Frett of Georgia and Shalonda Enis all made The Associated Press preseason All-America team and all are playing well.

But as the season reaches its halfway point, all three have teammates who are putting up even better numbers.

Junior forward Nykesha Sales is having a dynamite season for No. 1 Connecticut. She’s the Huskies’ leading scorer with a 16.9 average, she’s shooting 50.6 percent from the field and has made 81 percent of her free throws. Sales also is playing outstanding defense and twice made eight steals in a game.

At Georgia, Kedra Holland-Corn has been sizzling from the perimeter since day one this season. The 5-foot-8 senior went into the weekend averaging 18.8 points and shooting 39 percent from 3-point range. She scored 30 points in a victory over Tennessee, 29 at Wisconsin and 27 against Louisiana Tech.

Sophomore Dominque Canty is outscoring Enis at Alabama. She was averaging 17.1 points on a balanced team through 13 games and also was averaging 8.3 rebounds. Not bad for a 5-10 guard.

Sales, Holland-Corn and Canty all will merit consideration when All-America teams are chosen in March. So will several others who were left off the five-member preseason team, which also included Stanford’s Kate Starbird and Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw.

Here’s a look at some other potential All-Americans:

Keisha Anderson, Wisconsin. A fleet point guard, Anderson leads the Big Ten with a 21.3 average that was helped by a school-record 45-point outburst against UC Santa Barbara.

Katryna Gaither, Notre Dame. This lanky 6-3 center leads the Big East in scoring (22.3), rebounding (9.4) and field-goal percentage (.622) while helping the No. 21 Irish to a 12-4 record. She had 40 points in one game and 17 rebounds in another.

Marion Jones, North Carolina. The sprinter in sneakers is back after sitting out last season to concentrate on track. Jones began the week leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring (21.7) and was shooting 62 percent from the field. Not surprisingly, she was leading the league in steals at 3.6 a game.

Clarisse Machanguana and Ticha Penicheiro, Old Dominion. The 6-5 Machanguana dominates inside for the nation’s No. 2-ranked team, averaging 18.6 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 63 percent. Penicheiro is the consummate point guard. She averages 12.1 points and 7.8 assists.< Alicia Thompson, Texas Tech. The 6-1 junior is averaging 22.6 points and shoots 50 percent from the field.

Tina Thompson, Southern Cal. Thompson is quietly putting together a sensational season. The 6-3 senior leads the league with a 23-point scoring average, shoots 52 percent and is averaging 10.5 rebounds.

Kim Williams, DePaul. Williams began the week leading Conference USA in scoring (24.1) and steals (4.4) and was second in assists (6.0).

Encouraging D

One reason No. 22 LSU went into the weekend unbeaten is the Lady Tigers’ defense. It has been outstanding. LSU leads the Southeastern Conference in steals and is limiting opponents to 58 points a game and 36 percent shooting.

More knee woes

Yet another player from a Top 25 team has been sidelined by an all-too familiar injury for female athletes - a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

DePaul’s starting point guard, Fuschia Forrester, underwent surgery Dec. 31 for a torn ACL in her right knee.

She’s the second DePaul guard sidelined by a torn ACL. Teammate Stacy Krumrei was injured before the season started.

Other players sidelined by that injury this season include Voigt, Kiesha Brown of Georgia and Kellie Jolly of Tennessee. Jolly was injured back in October and received the doctor’s OK this past week to return to practice.

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN - Women’s basketball notebook