April 4, 2007
UCLA senior guard Noelle Quinn (Los Angeles, Calif.) has been selected by the Minnesota Lynx as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft, held today in Cleveland, Ohio. Quinn is the third UCLA player to be selected in the draft in the last two years, joining former teammates Lisa Willis (No. 5 pick in 2006 by the Los Angeles Sparks) and Nikki Blue (No. 19 pick in 2006 by the Washington Mystics) in the league.
Quinn finished her career as the No. 4 all-time scorer in UCLA women's basketball history with 1,829. She also totaled 794 rebounds (No. 8 on the UCLA career charts) and 450 assists (No. 7 all-time) to become the only UCLA basketball player, man or woman, to record career numbers of 1,800 points, 700 rebounds and 400 assists. She earned honorable mention All-America honors the last two seasons and first-team All-Pac-10 acclaim as a freshman, junior and senior, as well as 2004 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors.
"We believe Noelle has tremendous upside and growth as a player," said Lynx head coach Don Zierden. "As a coaching staff, we really like her ability to pass the ball and score within the flow of the offense. She is an extremely talented player who knows the game. We look forward to adding her to our solid core of young players."
The Lynx also picked up No. 1 overall draft pick Lindsey Harding via trade, sending Tangela Smith to Phoenix for Harding. In the second round, Minnesota selected Quinn's fellow Pac-10 players Shay Murphy of USC and Brooke Smith of Stanford, along with Boston College forward Kathrin Ress.
2007 WNBA Draft
First Round
1 - Phoenix - Lindsey Harding, G (Duke)*
2 - San Antonio - Jessica Davenport, C (Ohio St.)^
3 - Chicago - Armintie Price, G (Mississippi)
4 - Minnesota - Noelle Quinn, G (UCLA)
5 - New York - Tiffany Jackson, F (Texas)
6 - Washington - Bernice Mosby, F (Baylor)
7 - Seattle - Katie Gearlds, F (Purdue)
8 - Houston - Ashley Shields, G (SW Tenn. CC)
9 - Indiana - Alison Bales, C (Duke)
10 - Chicago - Carla Thomas, F (Vanderbilt)
11 - Detroit - Ivory Latta, G (North Carolina)
12 - Connecticut - Kamesha Hairston, F (Temple)
13 - Connecticut - Sandrine Gruda, C (France)
* - traded to Minnesota
^ - traded to New York
UCLA's WNBA Draft History
2007 - Noelle Quinn (1st Rd., No. 4 overall, Minnesota Lynx)
2006 - Lisa Willis (1st Rd., No. 5 overall, Los Angeles Sparks)
2006 - Nikki Blue (2nd Rd., No. 19 overall, Washington Mystics)
2000 - Maylana Martin (1st Rd., No. 10 overall, Minnesota Lynx)
1999 - Natalie Williams (1st Rd. Expansion, No. 3 overall, Utah Starzz)
1998 - Rehema Stephens (3rd Rd., No. 25 overall, Los Angeles Sparks)