When Dream coach Marynell Meadors told Iziane Castro-Marques the news, she wasn't surprised at the guard's silence.

"She smiles. Izzy doesn't say a whole lot," Meadors said with a smile herself.

Coming off perhaps her most significant performance since her return to Atlanta three weeks ago, Castro-Marques will replace rookie Tamera Young in the starting lineup tonight against Minnesota, Meadors said.

Castro-Marques sparked her team to a win against Chicago on Saturday night - the first in franchise history. She drained a 3-pointer, stole the ball on the next possession and capped it with a layup in a span of 10 seconds in the first quarter.

Before her play, Atlanta was behind 21-9. The Dream fed off Castro-Marques' energy and subsequently snapped their WNBA record 17-game losing streak.

While Meadors said she is pleased with Young's effort, the coach decided it is time for Castro-Marques, a six-year veteran, to reclaim the spot she left behind when she departed for Spain in late May.

"You want your veterans to start the game because they've been there, done that," Meadors said. "Hopefully this will get us solidified in the beginning of the first quarter. First quarters have not been real kind to us lately."

After starting the first four games of the season, Castro-Marques left to compete for Brazil's Olympic qualifying team. She met the team in Madrid and enjoyed reuniting with her friends. But on June 13, her future with the team severed abruptly.

She refused to go back in during overtime against Belarus. Brazil lost the game, and reports soon surfaced that coach Paulo Bassul released her from the team. Three days later, Brazil secured a berth in the Olympics without her.

Ask Castro-Marques what went down with her coach and all she will reveal is that the incident was a "coach-player disagreement."

"Just tried to put me in. I didn't want in. And that was all," she said.

In a post-game interview with Bassul that was posted on YouTube.com, Bassul said Brazil's bench was tired. When he tried to sub to keep up the energy, he said, "She said no. She didn't come back to the court. As a coach, I cannot accept that." He added that he wouldn't take her back for the Olympics.

Castro-Marques, who was a starter for Brazil's 2004 Olympic team in Athens, did say that the disagreement tainted her experience.

"I'm not going back," she said.

Ever?

She nodded her head.

Meadors said she has had nothing but a positive relationship with Castro-Marques. Meadors was director of scouting for the now-defunct Miami Sol and is responsible for bringing the guard from Brazil into the WNBA in 2002.

The only issue the two have had in their relationship was a language barrier.

"She spoke Spanish, and I spoke Southern," Meadors quipped about Castro-Marques' first and only year in Miami.

The two never lost contact after the Sol folded in 2002. While Meadors served as coach for the Washington Mystics, Castro-Marques said Meadors always promised a reunion.

"She was like, 'I'm going to get you on my team.' As soon as she got the head coaching job here, I knew I was coming," she said. "She knows how my game is. She saw me from the beginning when I didn't know anything about the league, and now I'm a six-year veteran. So it's been a great relationship."

She's averaging 5.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 17 minutes in the nine games since her return. Before she left for Brazil, Castro-Marques averaged 10.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 27 minutes.

After her two-week absence, Castro-Marques said she's working on fitting back in again.

It's had its challenges — recovering from jet lag, learning new plays and adjusting to a role as a reserve.

But her teammates are happy to welcome her quickness and vigor back.

"She definitely was an asset to this team. Still is," guard Ivory Latta said. "We definitely missed her. We're glad she's back."