Four Pac-12 players selected in WNBA Draft

SAN FRANCISCO - Four Pac-12 women’s basketball players were selected in Thursday night’s WNBA Draft, including CALIFORNIA standouts Brittany Boyd and Reshanda Gray. Also selected were STANFORD’s Amber Orrange and ARIZONA STATE’s Promise Amukamara.

At least one player from the Pac-12 has been selected in the first round since 2006, including three first-round picks (1997 - Tina Thompson, USC; 2012 - Nnemkadi Ogwumike, Stanford; 2014 - Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford). It is also the fifth-consecutive year at least three players from the Conference have been picked in the Draft.

The Golden Bear duo mark the first time Cal teammates were drafted in the same year. A guard, Brittany Boyd (Berkeley, Calif.) was selected in the first round with the ninth pick in the draft by the New York Liberty. Forward Reshanda Gray (Los Angeles, Calif.), the 2015 Pac-12 Player of the Year, was the 16th overall pick, taken in the second round by the Minnesota Lynx. The pair helped California to four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including the program’s first-ever NCAA Final Four in 2013. The team also claimed its first-ever Pac-12 co-regular season title that same year.

Stanford’s Amber Orrange (Houston, Texas) will be now call Boyd a teammate after being selected in the second round and 23rd overall by the Liberty. A guard, Orrange wrapped up a prolific collegiate career that saw the Cardinal make four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and two NCAA Final Four appearances, and claim three Pac-12 regular-season and tournament crowns.

ASU’s Promise Amukamara (Glendale, Ariz.) will stay local after being selected by the Phoenix Mercury in the third round and 36th overall. Amukamara helped the Sun Devils return to the NCAA Tournament in 2014, and helped ASU to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2015. This season, Arizona State was the regular-season Pac-12 runner up and clinched the No. 3 seed in the postseason. She is the first Sun Devil to be drafted into the WNBA since Briann January in 2009.

The WNBA regular season tips off Friday, June 5 with five games, including the Liberty hosting the Atlanta Dream, the Lynx hosting the Tulsa Shock, and the Mercury hosting the San Antonio Stars. For more information on the 2015 Draft and the 2015 WNBA season, visit www.wnba.com.