East hangs on for WNBA All-Star win

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Cappie Pondexter scored 17 points and Katie Douglas hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 56.7 seconds left, helping the East All-Stars hang on to beat the West in one of the closest WNBA midseason showcases in history, 118-113 on Saturday.

Douglas, the Indiana Fever guard, finished with 15 points and helped the East win just its third All-Star game in 10 tries - and third in the last four. Connecticut Sun center Tina Charles also had 15 points for the East and headlined a record 10 first-time All-Stars in this year's game.

Swin Cash led the West with 21 points and 12 rebounds and was named MVP for the second time. Former WNBA star Lisa Leslie is the only other player with multiple All-Star MVP awards.

Cash, the Seattle Storm's four-time All-Star, was also named MVP in 2009.

It may have been the WNBA's last All-Star game until 2013. Next summer is the Olympics, and the league may cancel the game - as it did in 2008 - while its biggest names play for the U.S. national team.

Chicago guard and former Gonzaga standout Courtney Vandersloot finished with eight points and two assists for the East.

-Top 15 named: Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper and Diana Taurasi lead the list selected as the WNBA's Top 15 players of all time.

The selections, announced Saturday during halftime of the All-Star game, also include Seattle's Sue Bird, Lauren Jackson and Katie Smith; Los Angeles' Tina Thompson and Ticha Penicheiro; Indiana's Tamika Catchings; New York's Cappie Pondexter; San Antonio's Becky Hammon; Tulsa's Sheryl Swoopes; and retired greats Dawn Staley, Yolanda Griffith and Teresa Weatherspoon.