McWilliams-Franklin named assistant coach at Rice

Taj McWilliams-Franklin is getting into coaching.

The veteran center will coach at Rice in Houston this WNBA offseason once the Lynx's season ends. Greg Williams, a former assistant and head coach in the WNBA in the league's early years, hired her.

McWilliams-Franklin, at 41, is the WNBA's oldest player. For the past 10 WNBA offseasons, she has played overseas. In 2011-12, she was in Israel and Poland.

But McWilliams-Franklin has a home in San Antonio and went to college at St. Edwards, a school in Austin, Texas. She also has three daughters. The two oldest are adults but Maia, the youngest, is 9, and is being raised primarily by Reggie, her husband.

Have to wonder if McWilliams-Franklin has decided to retire as a player at the end of the Lynx season? No word yet from the Lynx. But this story just broke late Tuesday afternoon and the team is on the road. The Lynx play at Washington on Wednesday night.

The story on Rice's athletic web site is here.

ROAD NOT SCARY

"We feel confident on the road, that is for sure," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. "We know if we can defend and rebound, we can get through anything on the road. We've got that mental and physical toughness that is required to be on the road. So we will see if we can't keep that going."

The Lynx have won 10 games in a row, going back to last year's playoffs, and are 4-0 this season, including one road win at New York.

Asked if the Lynx might be looking past the Mystics to Friday's game with the Sun, Reeve said that Washington is 1-1 and that's too small a sample size to dismiss any team.

But a sports writer can. The Mystics broke a five-game losing streak by beating lowly Tulsa by three points in a game in the 60s. Last year Washington finished the season 1-14, losing by double-digit margins on average.

So the Lynx should win handily on Wednesday if they play well, setting up a match-up of unbeatens. The Lynx are 4-0, soon to be 5-0, while the Sun will be 3-0 and coming off a six-day break.

The Lynx beat the Sun 87-85 in an exhibition game on May 10 at the Mohegan Sun Arena. But Connecticut's best player, center Tina Charles, didn't play and both teams used a lot of reserves.

"We will take what we learned from that experience and, obviously, we've got to plug in Charles," Reeve said. "They will be better because it is a regular-season game. "

BRUNSON BIG BENEFIT

Last season Rebekkah Brunson started the season with six double-doubles. She is not putting up those numbers so far, but is still invaluable.

"I call her band-aid, a security blanket," Reeve said, "all those things because of what she does. Maybe our offense doesn't run so smoothly at times, but there she is. She swoops in there and she gets me an O-board. She understands our defensive schemes extremely well.

Brunson, a 6-2 forward in her third year with the Lynx, is shooting 58.7 percent from the field (fifth best in the WNBA), blocking 1.75 shots per game (tied for third with McWilliams-Franklin) and getting 7.8 rebounds (seventh).

WHITE HOUSE TRIP PPD.

Reeve told her players after Tuesday's morning practice at Lifetime Fitness at Target Center that there would be no trip to the White House on this trip to Washington.

"It would have been great, it would have fit nicely," Reeve said. "But the White House was not able to pull that off."

By tradition, the president has the reigning WNBA champions in to congratulate them in person..

* This trip to Washington is a homecoming for several players, Monica Wright, Jessica Adair and Brunson, who are all from that area or went to college there.

Wright's parents live a short drive from the Verizon Center, where the Mystics play.

Adair and Brunson were both born in Washington, D.C., and played for colleges in that city. Adair at George Washington University, Brunson at Georgetown.

Reeve also has family nearby. She went to Washington Township High School in Sewell, N.J.

"[My players] enjoy it and I know I enjoy going back," Reeve said. "i see my family when I am back there. ... It is fun. It is a little pick-me-up for those that need to see their family."

* WNBA players of the week: Two ex-Tennessee greats and WNBA MVPs, forwards Candace Parker of L.A. and Tamika Catchings of Indiana.