<p>Connecticut's Diana Taurasi became just the second guard to be the top pick in the WNBA draft when she was selected first overall by the Phoenix Mercury on Saturday.</p><p>Taurasi led the Huskies to their third straight NCAA title earlier this month, averaging 19.8 points on the way to earning Final Four most outstanding player honors for the second straight year. The point guard averaged 15.0 points, 4.5 assists and 4.3 rebounds for her college career.</p><p>"It's a lot closer to home than Connecticut is," the Chio, Calif., native said. "My parents will get a better opportunity to go out there. It's a new city with new teammates, new surroundings. I'm excited."</p><p>She said former teammate Swin Cash told her about the difference in going from a NCAA powerhouse to a struggling franchise. Cash was selected second overall in 2002 by the Detroit Shock, who finished 9-23 in her first year before winning the WNBA championship last year.</p><p>"I talked to Swin, who obviously had the biggest shock when she went from her senior year going 39-0 to her first year in the pros where I think she lost her first 15 games," Taurasi said. "She said it's going to be hard, but you've got to keep positive."</p><p>Former Connecticut teammate Sue Bird, 2002's top pick, is the only other guard to be selected first.</p><p>The Washington Mystics selected Alana Beard from Duke with the second pick, and the Charlotte Sting followed by taking Stanford's Nicole Powell. The Connecticut Sun picked Minnesota's Lindsay Whalen at No. 4, and Arkansas' Shameka Christon went to the New York Liberty with the fifth pick.</p><p>Beard, a 5-11 guard-forward, received the inaugural women's John R. Wooden Award last week and was the AP's player of the year. She scored 2,687 points while at Duke, making her the school's career scorer leader _ for men and women. Beard, just the second three-time AP All-American, was also the first player in NCAA men's or women's history to get more than 2,500 points and 400 steals.</p><p>Beard said she was excited about playing with Mystics star Chamique Holdsclaw.</p><p>"That's just something you dream of," Beard said. "When the league first started, it was Chamique Holdsclaw that you'd turn on the TV and always watch. She can do so many things."</p><p>Powell, who played everywhere from the point to the post, led the Cardinal last season in scoring (20.2), rebounding (11.1), assists (4.1) and steals (58). She set Stanford's single-season record with 346 rebounds.</p><p>Whalen missed the Golden Gophers' last seven games before the NCAA tournament due to a broken hand. She returned and led Minnesota to the Final Four, where it lost to UConn in the semifinals. Whalen is the Gophers' all-time leader with 2,285 points.</p><p>Christon averaged 21.8 points and seven rebounds for the Razorbacks, and was the SEC player of the year.</p><p>The Minnesota Lynx had the next two picks, and had hoped to get local favorite Whalen, but instead selected Kansas State's Nicole Ohlde and Florida's Vanessa Hayden.</p><p>Rounding out the first round, it was: Houston's Chandi Jones to Phoenix at No. 8; Ebony Hoffman from Southern Cal to the Indiana Fever with the ninth pick; Georgetown's Rebekkah Brunson to the Sacramento Monarchs at No. 10; Duke's Iciss Tillis to the defending champion Shock next; Georgia's Christi Thomas to the Los Angeles Sparks with the 12th pick, and Purdue's Shereka Wright to Detroit with the 13th and final pick of the first round.</p><p>Trades cannot be officially announced until after the conclusion of the draft, but the Mercury said they had agreed to a multiplayer deal with the Shock involving Jones and Wright.</p><p>Penn State's Kelly Mazzante, considered a possible early pick, was selected by Charlotte in the second round, 18th overall. Mazzante finished as the Big Ten's career leading scorer with 2,919 points. The two-time All-American averaged 20.8 points this season and the helped the Nittany Lions earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.</p><p>However, Mazzante struggled in Penn State's loss to UConn in the East regional final, scoring 14 points on 5-for-17 shooting. She missed eight of her first nine shots in that game and had just two points in the first half.</p><p>Teams will open training camp April 25, exhibition games will begin May 4 and the season starts May 20.</p>
http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/4/171131
© Copyright 2015 AccessNorthGa.com
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.
