Duke, NC State women’s hoops stars drafted into WNBA

RALEIGH, N.C. – Graduating seniors from the NC State Wolfpack and Duke Blue Devils women’s basketball teams made up a quarter of the first-round players chosen in the 2014 Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Draft held at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. on Monday.

The Wolfpack’s Markeisha Gatling and the Blue Devils’ Chelsea Gray and Tricia Liston were selected in succession, numbers 10 through 12 overall, as part of the pro league’s first 12 picks made, and as representatives of a record group of seven total Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) players taken in the opening round.

Gatling was chosen by the Chicago Sky, Gray had the host crowd behind her as a selection of the Connecticut Sun, while the defending-champion Minnesota Lynx made Liston their top pick.

NC State’s Kody Burke, a third-round selection (32nd overall) of the Washington Mystics rounded out the corps of Triangle-area players chosen to play professionally in the WNBA following successful National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) playing careers with their respective schools.

2014 WNBA Draft

First Round

1.    Chiney Ogwumike (Connecticut Sun), Stanford

2.    Odyssey Sims (Tulsa Shock), Baylor

3.    Kayla McBride (San Antonio Stars), Notre Dame

4.    Alyssa Thomas (New York Liberty), Maryland

5.    Natasha Howard (Indiana Fever), Florida State

6.    Stefanie Dolson (Washington Mystics), Connecticut

7.    Bria Hartley (Seattle Storm), Connecticut

8.    Shoni Schimmel (Atlanta Dream), Louisville

9.    Natalie Achonwa (Indiana Fever), Notre Dame

10.  Markeisha Gatling (Chicago Sky), North Carolina State

11.  Chelsea Gray (Connecticut Sun), Duke

12.  Tricia Liston (Minnesota Lynx), Duke

Second Round

13.  Jordan Hooper (Tulsa Shock), Nebraska

14.  Tyaunna Marshall (New York Liberty), Georgia Tech

15.  Asya Bussie (Minnesota Lynx), West Virginia

16.  Astou Ndour (San Antonio Stars), Grand Canary, Spain

17.  Tiffany Bias (Phoenix Mercury), Oklahoma State

18.  Inga Orekhova (Atlanta Dream), South Florida

19.  Michelle Plouffe (Seattle Storm), Utah

20.  Cassie Harberts (Atlanta Dream), Southern California

21.  Maggie Lucas (Phoenix Mercury), Penn State

22.  Gennifer Brandon (Chicago Sky), University of California

23.  Jennifer Hamson (Los Angeles Sparks), BYU

24.  Christina Foggie (Minnesota Lynx), Vanderbilt

 

Third Round

25.  DeNesha Stallworth (Connecticut Sun), Kentucky

26.  Meighan Simmons (New York Liberty), Tennessee

27.  Theresa Plaisance (Tulsa Shock), LSU

28.  Bri Kulas (San Antonio Stars), Missouri

29.  Haiden Palmer (Indiana Fever), Gonzaga

30.  Carley Mijovic (Washington Mystics), Australia

31.  Mikaela Ruef (Seattle Storm), Stanford

32.  Kody Burke (Washington Mystics), North Carolina State

33.  Stephanie Talbot (Phoenix Mercury), Australia

34.  Jamierra Faulkner (Chicago Sky), Southern Mississippi

35.  Antonita Slaughter (Los Angeles Sparks), Louisville

36.  Asia Taylor (Minnesota Lynx), Louisville