BACK IN THE GAME

For three months last fall, Nicole Powell didn’t pick up a basketball. She’d had it with her sport, mentally exhausted and frustrated after a trying first season in the WNBA. Her tender ankle needed to heal too.

The former Stanford star, chosen third overall by the Charlotte Sting in last year’s WNBA draft, went back to school and hung out with friends, working out only on occasion. She spent the winter playing one game a week in Italy to regain her rhythm.

“It was just rehab for my body and rehab for the mind. It had been a long time since I’d done that -- since I started, maybe my freshman year in high school, that I’d had a break like that,” Powell said. “I was a little burned out, so for me going back to Stanford was time to refocus and get mentally strong again. And get back on attack mode, because I was kind of on my heels and had lost my confidence a little bit.”

In March, she received news she’d been traded to the Sacramento Monarchs -- the place she wanted to play from the beginning. And coach and general manager John Whisenant, a longtime fan of Powell, is determined to find plenty of playing time for the 6-foot-2 forward in his freelance-oriented system.

“It’s just a good fit,” Powell said. “To get another chance basically to start all over, that’s how I feel. I feel refreshed coming to this team. Can you ask for anything better than when people want you?”

The Monarchs’ off-season priority was to get younger and improve their three-point shooting. Sacramento didn’t make one three from its wing position all last season, and wound up losing to eventual WNBA champion Seattle in the Western Conference finals.

Sacramento dealt popular forward Tangela Smith and a draft pick to the Sting to get Powell, Olympia Scott-Richardson and Erin Buescher. After Whisenant added coaching duties to his management job in the middle of the 2003 season, he wanted to make his roster more youthful -- even if that meant getting rid of some well-liked players.

Powell was a key acquisition in that plan.

“We traded a very good basketball player to get her,” Whisenant said. “Nicole was the primary focus of our trading Tangela Smith. We thought Nicole fit what we lacked, which was a good-sized wing, perimeter player who could dribble, pass and shoot. She’s done that very well so far. I’ve always liked her. I’ve always recognized her skill. We liked her out of the draft but were too far down to get her.”

Powell played only 12.4 minutes per game as a rookie, averaging 4.3 points and 2.3 rebounds -- a dramatic change in production for someone who finished her college career as the Cardinal’s career rebounding leader and third-leading scorer.

“If you’d seen me play, you’d have said, ‘That’s not Nicole,’ ” she said.

At Stanford, Powell had six triple-doubles, the only Pac-10 player to record more than one, and took her team within a basket of the Final Four her senior season.

Powell was a two-time Pac-10 Player of the Year, an All-American, and received consideration for national player of the year honors.

Going from all that to role player was a huge adjustment. She constantly changed positions.

“It was hard, there’s no doubt. My head was kind of all over the place. I didn’t really know what to expect,” she said. “That’s part of learning the process, too. It’s not always going to be the same daily. You have to be able to adapt. I think here it’s going to be more stable. The system is more to my style of play.”

Guard Kara Lawson already is reaping the benefits of having Powell. Namely, her presence forces opposing defenses to be honest.

“I’ve played against Nicole since I was in college,” said Lawson, who left Tennessee in 2003. “She’s just an incredible offensive player. That’s the first thing that jumps out at you. She can shoot the ball, she’s a great passer, she’s got size, she’s got great court awareness. She’s just a total package.

“She fits right in. She’s funny. We’ve got a great group. Everyone’s welcomed her and is excited to play with her.”

It’s easy to notice that Powell is having fun again.

While she looks back at her experience in Charlotte as a positive because she learned so much about herself, she is eager to return to a more prominent position.

Sitting courtside before a recent exhibition game, Powell seemed giddy about her new start. She praised all her teammates, smiling as she described their skills and the vibe in the locker room.

This summer, she will receive her degree from Stanford. She currently is finishing four credits toward her urban studies degree by correspondence.

“It’s cool to come to a place people know about you, people care about it,” she said. “In Charlotte, people didn’t know about our team and I was coming from Stanford where it was a big deal. It’s so cool.”