Smith, Snow and Dupree selected as replacements for All-Star game

Tamika Catchings, Becky Hammon and Tina Thompson are injured.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Tangela Smith, Michelle Snow and rookie Candice Dupree were selected Monday as replacements for injured players in the WNBA All-Star game.
Smith and Dupree replace injured starters Tamika Catchings of the Indiana Fever and Becky Hammon of the New York Liberty for the Eastern Conference for Wednesday night's game at Madison Square Garden. Snow is a replacement for Houston Comets teammate Tina Thompson on the West.
Catchings has Achilles' tendinitis in her left heel and Hammon is out with a sprained left ankle. Both suffered the injuries in games Sunday. The East, 0-6 in the midseason game, will be without a third starter as Connecticut Sun forward Nykesha Sales (Achilles' tendon) withdrew from the game on Saturday and was replaced by teammate Taj McWilliams-Franklin.
"The fans voted me to play, and it's really too bad I'm not able to," Catchings said through a team spokesman. "But you have to look at the long run and, hopefully, it will be a short-lived injury.
"I didn't think it was that bad," she said. "But I can tell you that it really hurt."
Smith, a nine-year veteran making her first All-Star appearance, is averaging 12.6 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Charlotte Sting this season. Dupree, the sixth overall pick by expansion Chicago in this year's WNBA draft, leads the Sky with averages of 13.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 31.2 minutes. The former Temple star will be playing against her college coach and Comets guard Dawn Staley, selected as a starter for the West.
Snow, an All-Star for the second time, is averaging 11.6 points and 7.2 rebounds for Houston.
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