Boston is top pick; two UConn players drafted; Sun select LSU’s Morris

Connecticut Sun head coach Stephanie White, left, and GM Darius Taylor met with the media after Monday night’s WNBA draft.

Three-time All-American Aliyah Boston of South Carolina was the No. 1 pick in Monday night’s WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever. The consensus 2021-22 national player of the year, Boston is Indiana’s first-ever No. 1 selection.

The 6-foot-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. South Carolina, which beat UConn in the finals a year ago, was eliminated in the semifinals at the Final Four a few weeks ago.

Two UConn players were selected in the draft. Lou Lopez Sénéchal was selected in the first round with the fifth selection by Dallas. Dorka Juhász was selected in the second round with the No. 16 overall pick by the Minnesota Lynx.

The Connecticut Sun had to wait a while. They had no first round pick and had the No. 22 selection in the second round. The Sun selected guard Alexis Moore from national champion Louisiana State University and grabbed Ashten Prechtel of Stanford with the 36th overall pick in the third round.

Boston is excited to play for the Fever and in the WNBA . But it wasn’t an easy decision for Boston, who had a year of eligibility left thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It took a lot of thought because if I could go back to South Carolina again, I absolutely would because it was so much fun,” she said. “But I just knew I had to do what was best for me, and I definitely think just coming to the league, and I say that just because I’ve always wanted to do this. I’ve always wanted to be a professional basketball player and I just felt like this moment was right.”

Lopez Sénéchal and Juhász were both graduate transfers at UConn. Both stepped into the starting lineup due to the dizzying number of injuries on the Huskies this season.

Lopez Sénéchal, the 26th UConn player to be selected in the first round of the WNBA draft, made the 2022-23 All-Big East 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.  She averaged 15.5 points per game  for the Huskies while shooting 44.0 percent from three-point range.

“It feels surreal,” she said. “Really didn’t think I would be here one day. I’ve come a long way, gone through a lot of challenges, but also opportunities, and all of my steps that I’ve been through have led me here. Just feels very blessed.”

Former UConn star Crystal Dangerfield is also on the Dallas roster.

Juhász, who played three years at Ohio State, averaged 10.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in two seasons for UConn. Former Husky Napheesa Collier plays with the Lynx.

Sun general manager Darius Taylor was surprised and pleased to get the chance to draft Morris with Connecticut’s first selection.

“We are very excited to get a first round talent in the second round,” he said. “We definitely didn’t think she would be there at No. 22. We had to change up our whole game plan. I thought she played all season like a first round pick.”

Morris, a 5-foot-6 guard, averaged a career-best 15.4 points along with 2.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists for the Tigers. She was an All-SEC selection this winter. In the NCAA tournament, she averaged 16.8 points and 3.8 assists and she scored over 20 points in each of the final three games of the season.

“One of the things Alexis does so well is that she is a shotmaker,” Sun coach Stephanie White said. “She can create (her shot). She’s not afraid of the moment. She has a great opportunity in front of her.”

In the Final Four semifinal against Virginia Tech, Morris scored 27 points, 16 of which came in the second half as LSU came back in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 16 points in the third quarter. Once again in the national championship game against Iowa, Morris came up big in the second half to help LSU. Morris scored 19 of her 21 total points in the second half and dished out nine assists.

One of the things that the Sun have lacked in the past two seasons is a consistent scorer from the guard position.

Prechtel joins Connecticut after four successful seasons at Stanford University. The 6-5 forward helped Stanford win a NCAA championship (2021) and three Pac-12 titles. One of her most notable performances came in the 2021 Elite Eight against Louisville where she scored 16 second-half points, including going 3-of-3 from behind the arc, to help Stanford overcome a 12-point deficit and advance to the Final Four.

“Ashten is a player we have had our eye on for a long time,” Taylor said. “We are happy that we were able to add a big that can shoot the ball from the perimeter and give us versatility in the post.”

Taylor did say that the Sun may add a few additional free agents in the coming days to compete in training camp.

WNBA training camps begin at the end of this month on April 30. The regular season begins May 19 and the Sun will open the season on the road at Indiana that evening at 7 p.m.