WNBA Draft 2025 highlights: Bueckers, Malonga and Citron go 1-2-3

The WNBA’s draft now is over. The league starts its preseason May 2 with a pair of games.

Of course, the No. 1 overall pick will be playing in one of those exhibitions.

Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings play the Las Vegas Aces at Notre Dame in Indiana.

The Brazil National Team will be playing the Chicago Sky at star Angel Reese’s old college stomping grounds at LSU in a game set for the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She’ll have a former LSU teammate with her in new Sky rookie Hailey Van Lith who played her last college season at TCU.

This year’s WNBA draft featured an international flair, but the women’s marquee college programs were also front and center.

Dominique Malonga has plenty of company as the 19-year-old comes to the WNBA from France.

Malonga was the second player drafted, being selected by the Seattle Storm. Adja Kane of France became the 38th and last player selected in Monday night’s draft going to the New York Liberty.

Among U.S. colleges, reigning national champ UConn tied with national runner-up South Carolina, Notre Dame and Alabama with three players apiece drafted. The Gamecocks had to wait until the 18th pick overall when Te-Hina Paopao was selected by Atlanta.

Kaitlyn Chen and Aubrey Griffin came to the draft to support their UConn teammate Paige Bueckers.

Both were surprised to hear their name called in the third round as Chen was drafted by Golden State and Griffith by Minnesota.

The pair shared a moment upstairs in the media room with coach Geno Auriemma.

“How bout that! What a great night,” he said to his players.

The WNBA draft is over, and nobody used one of the 38 selections on Sedona Prince.

She just finished off her seventh and final year of college basketball at TCU, helping the Horned Frogs reach the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Prince came into the spotlight with her viral video back in the NCAA Tournament bubble in 2021. She later was a lead plaintiff in a landmark antitrust lawsuit that will help get money for college athletes.

The 6-foot-7 center earned honorable mention AP All-America honors.

But Prince was not among the 16 prospects invited to attend Monday night’s draft at The Shed. The question now is does she get invited by a WNBA team for a tryout or is playing overseas her best option now.

Las Vegas Aces select Harmoni Turner as No. 35.

Atlanta Dream select Taylor Thierry as No. 36.

Minnesota Lynx select Aubrey Griffin as No. 37.

New York Liberty select Adja Kane as No. 38, the final pick of the 2025 draft.

Dallas Wings select Aaronette Vonleh as No. 31.

Washington Mystics select Zaay Green as No. 32.

Indiana Fever select Yvonne Ejim as No. 33.

Seattle Storm select Jordan Hobbs as No. 34.

Los Angeles Sparks select Liatu King as No. 28.

Seattle Storm select Madison Conner as No. 29.

Golden State Valkyries select Kaitlyn Chen as No. 30.

Sedona Prince, TCU

The 6-foot-7 center from Liberty Hill, Texas, may be known more for her social media post in 2021 helping point out the inequities between how the NCAA treated men and women during its basketball tournaments. Her post helped prompt an NCAA-commissioned report reviewing gender equity, which led to the use of the phrase March Madness and the start of paying women’s programs units for participating in the tournament. Prince played at Oregon before graduating in May 2022 and transferring to TCU for her last two seasons.

Prince averaged 17.2 points a game this season and started all 58 games played at TCU. She started 86 of 108 games played over five seasons.

JJ Quinerly, West Virginia

The 5-foot-8 guard from Norfolk, Virginia, started 108 of her 126 games played at West Virginia in her career. She averaged 20.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists this season. Quinerly is a two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma has another big number to his credit with Paige Bueckers now his sixth No. 1 pick overall in the WNBA draft.

Bueckers joins a gaudy and talented list that includes Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.

Auriemma says he wouldn’t have questioned if the feisty guard started thinking of the games, Final Fours or national titles she didn’t win. Bueckers ended her career helping Auriemma win UConn’s 12th national title and his 1,250th career victory overall.

The UConn coach says the way it ended is almost prophetic for Bueckers.

The 5-foot-10 native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, is a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference First Team player. James played in 105 straight games to finish her career at NC State. She capped her career averaging a career-high 17.9 points a game. She also grabbed an average of 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals starting 34 of 35 games.

James shot an average of 44.5% from the floor, 33.3% from 3-point range and 75% at the free throw line.

Van Lith is a 5-foot-9 guard who became the first player to play on three different teams in the Elite Eight after revitalizing her own college career at TCU. Van Lith averaged 17.9 points and 5.4 assists this season as TCU reach the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Van Lith also has some pro experience helping the U.S. win a bronze medal in 3-on-3 at last year’s Paris Olympics.

Sivka has size at 6-foot-4 that makes her a difficult matchup. She also is another European who won’t turn 20 until Nov. 23. Sivka is a multilevel scoring forward with efficient shot-making ability. She made over 42% from the 3-point line.

Sarah Ashlee Barker averaged 18.2 points per game this season, which ranked eighth in the Southeastern Conference. She was a two-time All-SEC First Team pick. She also held shooters to 23% shooting from the floor, which was the fifth-stingiest in Division I this season.

The Minnesota Lynx have acquired forward Karlie Samuelson in a trade with the Washington Mystics for their 2026 first-round draft pick.

Samuelson has career averages of 5.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game over six WNBA seasons. She scored a career-best 8.4 points per game last year while shooting 39.8% from 3-point range to rank 13th in the league. That was her first season with the Mystics. Samuelson was originally signed by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2018.

The Lynx acquired a different 2026 first-rounder in a separate trade Sunday with the Chicago Sky for their first-rounder this year.

The 6-foot-1 forward is coming off a season where she was All-ACC First Team and also Atlantic Coast Conference All-Defensive Team for a second straight year. She helped lead the Wolfpack to the Final Four last season. Rivers helped South Carolina win the 2022 national championship team her freshman year before transferring.

Rivers averaged 11.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists this past year starting all 37 games. She also is a good defender averaging 1.3 blocks and 1.6 steals.

The 6-foot-1 forward led the nation in double-doubles as she averaged 18.7 points and 13.5 rebounds a game. She is second in that category for a career, behind only Oklahoma great Courtney Paris, having more than 100 in her career with her last two seasons at LSU after playing her first two at DePaul. The native of Chicago has a toughness and nose for the basketball.

Amoore is a 5-foot-6 guard with lots of experience starting 155 of 157 games over five college seasons. Amoore averaged 19.6 points and 6.9 assists for Kentucky this season after transferring from Virginia Tech where she spent her first four seasons. She is from Ballarat, Victoria in Australia.

The 6-foot Jocyte showcased her scoring skills with a 22-point effort against Belgium in the EuroBasket qualifiers.

She’s a versatile player who can play any guard position. She is really effective on the pick and roll with a toughness and fundamental skills that are impressive for someone who turns 20 on Nov. 19.

The 6-foot-3 forward was a star at Stanford before spending her last season at USC.

She averaged 18.2 points and 8.3 rebounds with the Trojans. Iriafen then raised her game when JuJu Watkins went down with an ACL tear helping USC get to the Elite Eight.

Citron is a 6-foot-1 guard. She averaged 14.3 points and 5.8 rebounds during her career at Notre Dame where she worked hard enough on her defense to become one of the top defenders on the team.

She also shot over 90% from the free-throw line the past two seasons, one of the best percentages in the country. Citron started 107 of 124 games played over four seasons at Notre Dame.

The 6-foot-6 center played for the French Olympic team last year and has a bright future in the WNBA.

She averaged 15.0 points and 10.3 rebounds so far this season while playing for Lyon. She is 19 and won’t turn 20 until November. But Malonga gave a glimpse of her dazzling athleticism last fall dunking for Lyon.