Minneapolis ? Katie Smith doesn’t have Diana Taurasi’s endorsement deals. She doesn’t have Lisa Leslie’s modeling gigs or Sue Bird’s flair in the open court. Her name doesn’t roll off the tongue like Sheryl Swoopes.

Instead, Smith has worked in the shadows, methodically piling up points and quietly knocking down jumpers.

“If you asked who would be the first to score 5,000 points in women’s basketball, nobody would say Katie Smith,” she acknowledges.

Smith is poised to become the first American woman to score 5,000 points in her professional basketball career, which spans three years with Columbus in the old ABL and six-plus seasons with the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA.

She enters tonight’s game against Detroit needing 11 points to achieve the milestone.

“It’s a tremendous accomplishment,” said Lynx coach Suzie McConnell Serio. “To be able to score that many points, and she’s been through two knee injuries. She’s been able to maintain that level of play.”