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Seattle Storm center Natasha Howard, center, drives to the basket as Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner defends during the second half of Game 4 of the WNBA semifinals Sept. 2, 2018, in Phoenix.
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WNBA All-Stars named: Is Waite grad Natasha Howard one of them?

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WNBA All-Stars named: Is Waite grad Natasha Howard one of them?

Natasha Howard is going to her first WNBA all-star game.

The Toledo native and Waite High School graduate officially earned a place as a starter on the all-star team, which the WNBA announced Thursday.

Howard, in her sixth WNBA season and second with the Seattle Storm, is having a career year and has been one of the top all-around players in the league. She ranks in the top 10 in points (17.8, fourth); rebounds (8.8, fourth); steals (1.9, fifth); and blocks (1.6, seventh).

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Fans noticed, as Howard finished sixth in the voting. Fans account for 50 percent of the vote, while a combination of current WNBA players and a panel of broadcasters and sports writers account for the other half.

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Howard said in a phone interview she was thankful to have earned a place among the best in the league.

“My thought was, ‘Wow, I really made the all-star team,’” Howard said. “I saw all the hard work I put in day in and day out and all season until now. At the same time, I couldn’t do it without my teammates and people who voted for me back at home. I really appreciate everybody’s votes. I really do.”

After a standout career at Florida State, where she became the second-leading scorer in program history, Howard was the fifth overall pick of the Indiana Fever in 2014.

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She played mostly off the bench in her first four seasons, two each with the Fever and the Minnesota Lynx. Howard played with WNBA stars such as Tamika Catchings, Sylvia Fowles, and Rebekkah Brunson, and patiently waited for her opportunity to play star minutes in the league.

“I told myself, ‘Just stay true to yourself and let the game come to you.’ You don’t have to be somebody else; just be yourself,” Howard said.

After winning a championship with Minnesota in 2017, the team dealt her for a second-round pick to Seattle, where she has blossomed, starting every game but one during the past two seasons.

Last year, the 6-foot-2 forward set career highs in points, assists, rebounds, blocks, and steals en route to being named first-team All-Defense, winning the WNBA’s Most Improved Player award, and helping the Storm to the best record in the league and its first title in eight years.

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In the clinching Game 3 of the WNBA finals, Howard scored a career-best 29 points and added 14 rebounds.

Howard’s 2019 season has been better from a statistical standpoint. In her second season under Storm coach Dan Hughes, a former assistant at the University of Toledo, Howard’s scoring average has risen 4.6 points to match gains in rebounding (2.4) and assists (0.8).

“I just got the opportunity that I’ve been waiting for and asking for,” Howard said. “I finally got the opportunity to actually show my game, and Dan, he sees something in me. He wanted me my rookie year, and he got me and I got him. It was a win-win right there.”

As the top two votegetters, Elena Delle Donne and A’ja Wilson will be the captains for the game. Howard is one of two starters making her first appearance.

Howard dreamed of playing professional basketball as a child here, and now she’s on one of the biggest stages the WNBA has to offer.

“Growing up as a kid, I always wanted to play in the WNBA and play at the next level. I told myself I was going to do this for my family because I wanted a better life for me and my family,” Howard said. “As a young child, you’re thinking like that at the age of 10, so now it’s a blessing to be on this type of platform that I’m on now.”

First Published July 11, 2019, 7:30 p.m.

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Seattle Storm center Natasha Howard, center, drives to the basket as Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner defends during the second half of Game 4 of the WNBA semifinals Sept. 2, 2018, in Phoenix.  (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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