NEW YORK, April 10, 2023 – Three-time AP All-America First Team selection Aliyah Boston of South Carolina tonight was selected by the Indiana Fever with the first overall pick of WNBA Draft 2023 presented by State Farm, which was held at the acclaimed Spring Studios, located in the Tribeca section of New York.
The consensus 2021-22 National Player of the Year and two-time Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, Boston is the Fever’s first ever No. 1 overall draft pick. The 6-5 forward/center averaged 13.0 points and 9.8 rebounds per game this season while leading South Carolina to its third consecutive Final Four appearance. A 2021-22 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Champion with the Gamecocks, Boston was the recipient of the Lisa Leslie Award as the nation’s top center for four straight years, a two-time SEC Player of the Year, and four-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year.
With the No. 2 overall pick, the Minnesota Lynx selected Diamond Miller of Maryland. The 6-3 guard averaged 19.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and was a finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the nation’s best shooting guard. A two-time All-Big Ten First Team selection, she ranked third in the conference in scoring this past season and was on the ballot for the John R. Wooden Award as the National Player of the Year.
With the third and fifth picks, the Dallas Wings selected Maddy Siegrist of Villanova and Lou Lopez Sénéchal of Connecticut. Siegrist, who was a finalist for both the Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year Award and the Wade Trophy, led the nation in scoring with 29.2 points per game and was named to the AP All-America First Team. The Poughkeepsie, N.Y. native won three Big East scoring titles during her career.
Lopez Sénéchal made the 2022-23 All-Big East First Team in her one season at Connecticut following four standout seasons at Fairfield, where she was the 2021-22 Metro Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
Dallas continued to make moves in the first round. With the fourth pick, the Washington Mystics selected Stephanie Soares of Iowa State and traded her draft rights to the Wings for future draft picks. Soares averaged 14.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in 13 games in the 2022-23 season. Before transferring to Iowa State, Soares was a two-time NAIA National Player of the Year and three-time First Team NAIA All-America selection for The Master’s University.
The Atlanta Dream used the sixth and eighth picks to select Haley Jones of Stanford and Laeticia Amihere of South Carolina. Jones helped lead Stanford to the 2021 NCAA Women’s National Championship and was a finalist for the 2021-22 Naismith Trophy as the National Player of Year. In 2021, she was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2021 Final Four after averaging 20.5 points and 6.0 rebounds. Amihere set career highs in total points, blocks and steals this season and starred on the Canadian National Team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
With its second pick of the first round, the Fever selected Grace Berger at No. 7 overall. The 6-foot guard helped lead Indiana to its first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and is the all-time winningest player at Indiana with 118 victories over five seasons. She was named to the All-Big Ten Team four times and was a three-time AP All-America Honorable Mention.
The Seattle Storm selected Jordan Horston of Tennessee with the ninth pick in the first round. Horston was named to the All-SEC First Team in 2022 and 2023 and is one of only two players in school history to record 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 400 assists in a career.
With the 10th pick, the Los Angeles Sparks selected Zia Cooke of South Carolina, the third selection from the school in the first round of the draft. The Toledo, Ohio native won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and was a finalist for the Dawn Staley Award as the nation’s best overall guard.
At the 11th pick, the Dallas Wings used its third selection of the first round to draft Abby Meyers of Maryland. The 6-0 guard transferred to Maryland after three years at Princeton and was an All-Big Ten Second Team selection while averaging 14.3 points per game.
The Minnesota Lynx used its second selection of the first round on Maïa Hirsch of France at No. 12. The 19-year-old center most recently played for ESB Villeneuve-d’Ascq in the French LFB.
The Fever made its third selection of the draft with the first pick of the second round, selecting Taylor Mikesell of Ohio State. The 5-11 guard averaged 17.2 points per game while leading the Buckeyes to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three decades. The Ohio native made the All-Big Ten First Team in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
With its fourth selection of the draft, the Dallas Wings selected Ashley Joens of Iowa State with the 19th pick in the second round. The 2022-23 Big 12 Player of the Year, Joens won the Cheryl Miller Award as the nation’s best small forward in each of the last three seasons and finished her career as Iowa State’s all-time leader in points (3,040). The Connecticut Sun made its first pick of the draft at No. 22 in the second round, selecting Alexis Morris of LSU. Morris helped LSU win the 2023 national championship, leading the team in assists per game and ranking second in scoring (15.4 ppg).
The Minnesota Lynx selected two players in the second round with Dorka Juhász of Connecticut at No. 16 and Brea Beal of South Carolina at No. 24. Juhász was a semifinalist for the Lisa Leslie Award as the nation’s best center and an All-Big East First Team selection this season. Beal was a finalist for the 2022-23 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award and started all but one game for South Carolina during her four-year career.
In the third round, the Phoenix Mercury had two picks, selecting forward Destiny Harden of Miami and forward Kadi Sissoko of USC. With the final selection of the round, the defending champion Las Vegas Aces used its only pick of the draft, taking guard Brittany Davis of Alabama at No. 36 overall.
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