Chiney Ogwumike, Odyssey Sims & Kayla McBride top selections in 2014 WNBA Draft
Complete Draft Order
The Connecticut Sun selected Stanford’s Chiney Ogwumike with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2014 WNBA Draft. The Tulsa Shock picked Odyssey Sims of Baylor with the second overall selection, and the San Antonio Stars tapped Notre Dame’s Kayla McBride at No. 3.
A 6-4 forward, Ogwumike was a four-time First Team All-American, three-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, and two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year at Stanford. Ogwumike, who is the younger sister of 2012 No. 1 overall selection Nneka Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks, leaves Stanford as the Pac-12’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder.
A 5-8 guard, Sims was a consensus All-American and finalist for all major National Player of the Year awards the last two seasons. Sims’s 1,054 points as a senior were the second highest single-season total in Division I history (Missouri State’s Jackie Stiles,1,062), while her career total of 2,533 points surpassed former Baylor teammate Brittney Griner’s Big 12 record. McBride, a 5-11 guard, helped the Irish to a berth in the NCAA Championship Game in three of the past four seasons and earned the 2014 ACC Player of the Year during her senior campaign.
With the fourth overall pick, the New York Liberty selected Maryland’s Alyssa Thomas, who was a four-time All-American and three-time ACC Player of the Year. Before the first round ended, Connecticut traded Tina Charles and its own 2015 third-round pick to New York in exchange for the rights to Thomas, the contract of Kelsey Bone, and New York’s own 2015 first-round pick. The Indiana Fever rounded out the top five selecting 6-3 forward Natasha Howard from Florida State, who was named to the All-ACC First Team and All-Defensive Team during her senior season.
The Washington Mystics selected 6-5 center Stefanie Dolson from the University of Connecticut with the sixth overall pick. After the Seattle Storm tapped UConn’s Bria Hartley with the seventh selection, Washington traded Crystal Langhorne to the Storm for the draft rights to Hartley and the contract of Tianna Hawkins. The UConn pair, now headed to Washington, helped the Huskies to four straight Final Four appearances, including back-to-back national titles the last two seasons, which raised the school’s total to a record nine championships.
The Atlanta Dream selected 5-11 guard Shoni Schimmel from Louisville with the eighth pick of the first round; Schimmel finished her Louisville career with 387 made three-pointers, five shy of the Division I mark of 392 held by Kansas State’s Laurie Koehn. Indiana used the ninth overall pick, its second selection of the first round, on Notre Dame’s Natalie Achonwa. The 6-3 forward was an AP All-America Second Team pick as a senior. With the 10th pick, the Chicago Sky tapped 6-5 center Markeisha Gatling from North Carolina State. During her final season, Gatling led all Division I players in field goal percentage (.663) and was an All-America Honorable Mention pick (AP) and All-ACC First Team selection. The Connecticut Sun selected
Duke’s Chelsea Gray, a 5-11 guard and Co-ACC Player of the Year as a junior, with the 11th overall pick. With the 12th and final selection of the first round, the Minnesota Lynx picked Gray’s collegiate teammate, 6-1 guard Tricia Liston, who was a 2013-14 finalist for the Wooden Award as NCAA’s top player.
The Tulsa Shock tipped off the second round of the 2014 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm by selecting Nebraska’s Jordan Hooper with the 13th overall pick. The New York Liberty picked Tyaunna Marshall from Georgia Tech with the 14th pick, while the Minnesota Lynx went with West Virginia’s Asya Bussie at 15.
Rounding out the rest of the second round: the San Antonio Stars selected Astou Ndour from Grand Canary, Spain (16th); the Phoenix Mercury picked Oklahoma State’s Tiffany Bias (17th); the Atlanta Dream went with South Florida’s Inga Orekhova (18th); the Seattle Storm selected Utah’s Michelle Plouffe (19th); the Atlanta Dream went with Cassie Harberts from Southern California (20th); the Phoenix Mercury tapped Penn State’s Maggie Lucas (21st); the Chicago Sky selected Gennifer Brandon from the Unviersity of California (22nd); the Los Angeles Sparks picked BYU’s Jennifer Hamson (23rd); and the Minnesota Lynx closed out the second round by selecting Christina Foggie from Vanderbilt (24th).
The third round opened with the Sun selecting DeNesha Stallworth from Kentucky with the 25th overall pick, followed by the Liberty picking Meighan Simmons from Tennessee (26th); the Shock selecting Theresa Plaisance from LSU (27th); the Stars going with Bri Kulas from Missouri (28th); the Fever selecting Haiden Palmer from Gonzaga (29th); the Storm tapping Carley Mijovic from Australia (30th); the Storm getting Mikaela Ruef from Stanford (31st); the Mystics selecting Kody Burke from North Carolina State (32nd); the Mercury picking Stephanie Talbot from Australia (33rd); the Sky selecting Southern Mississippi’s Jamierra Faulkner (34th); the Sparks going with Antonita Slaughter from Louisville (35th); and the Lynx closing out the 2014 Draft by tapping Asia Taylor from Louisville (36th).
Complete Draft Order
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
