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.
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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
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