Ex-Gopher Janel McCarville played center for the New York Liberty two years ago. But she won't be on the court on Tuesday when the Lynx play New York.

She is home in Wisconsin again this summer.

Seems McCarville got into a dispute with the Liberty and its new coach and general manager last year and never reported. They got off on the wrong foot right away. Coach/GM John Whisenant started fining her $1,000 a day from the day she arrived home in Wisconsin from a long season in Italy. That day also happened to be the start of Whiz's training camp.

She wanted four, five days home with her family. The Liberty suspended her for the 2011 season.

Whisenant visited her last winter in Italy, but McCarville decided to sit out this WNBA season, too.

Last month the Liberty released this statement from McCarville: "While I love the Liberty and the WNBA, I've decided to sit out the 2012 season to spend more time with my family. I sincerely appreciated and enjoyed the time that Coach Whiz spent with me in Italy earlier this year, and it has been great to hear from so many Liberty fans encouraging my return. I wish the team nothing but the best in its quest for a WNBA championship."

The Liberty still hold her WNBA rights. ... Hmm, if Taj McWilliams-Franklin retires after this season, and the Lynx are looking for a veteran center next season, and Lindsay Whalen returns [McCarville was in Whalen's wedding], how about a call to the Liberty, or to Custer, Wis., Janel's summer home?

* First there was the problem with McCarville last season, now this year she didn't come back and another center, Quanitra Hollingsworth will miss the first half of the WNBA. Q played for the Lynx for two seasons before being traded to the Liberty last season.

Q, an American who went to Virginia Commonwealth, is out because she is in Turkey. She became a Turkish citizen and is training with that country's national team as it prepares to host an international tournament that will determine the final qualifiers for the London Olympics. Turkey's women's basketball team has never advanced to the Olympics. Q hopes to change that.

AUGUSTUS MAY SIT OUT

Seimone Augustus, who injured her ribs on Sunday when she crashed into a courtside seat, practiced with the Lynx on Monday in New York. It was a light practice. She is questionable for Tuesday's game against the New York Liberty.

Augustus started all 42 games the Lynx played last year. In fact, four of the five starters did. The one exception was Taj McWilliams-Franklin. She was on the bench for one game in Tulsa when she suffered a minor injury in pregame warm-ups. She played starer's minutes that night anyway.

NBA TV LIKES LYNX

NBA TV, once the NBA playoffs are over, is going to do a lot of WNBA games this season. Forty-five to be exact.

It carried the regular-season opener between Los Angeles and Seattle on Friday. Will carry one WNBA game in June, seven in July before the break for the London Olympics, 12 in August and 23 in September.

Lynx games will be on 12 times. No other team will be on more than 10 times and several only four times.

"Many factors are involved when determining the schedule," a NBA TV spokesperson said, "but being the
defending champion is certainly one of them. Ultimately, when piecing together the schedule, we look for the most compelling games for our national audience."

Who will be the broadcasters for the Lynx games? "NBA TV simulcasts the local telecasts" was the answer.

The 45-game TV schedule is in line with NBA TV's traditional WNBA coverage. It also plans to cover playoff games, although how many has not been announced.

* wnba.com rates the Lynx No. 1 in its power ratings, with Atlanta and Connecticut No. 2 and 3, respectively.