WNBA Drafts Dolson and Hartley

On Monday night, not even a week after defeating Notre Dame for the national championship, Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley were at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. waiting for their name to be called during the 2014 WNBA Draft.

Dolson was drafted No.6 overall by the Washington Mystics and Bria Hartley was drafted No. 7 by the Seattle Storm. A few moments later, Hartley was traded to Washington.  The pair will play for Mike Thibault.

Dolson, the 6-5 center, was a key factor to UConn's offensive success over the past few years in Storrs. ESPN NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy said Dolson was a serial screener and set more screens this past season at UConn than anyone else has in the NBA.  Mystics point guard Ivory Latta tweeted how excited she will be to play with Dolson on the pick and roll.  Last week, Lisa Leslie said that Washington would be a good fit.

Dolson earned several All-American honors this season and was named the national defensive player of the year by the WBCA.  For her career, she averaged 11.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.  Hartley, the 5-8 guard, had a bounced back performance and earned All-American honors during her senior year for the Huskies.  During her career, Hartley averaged 13 points, 3.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game.

The duo were the 14^th and 15^th first round selections from UConn.

In other UConn related WNBA news, the Connecticut Sun traded 2012 top pick Tina Charles to the New York Liberty.

The WNBA preseason schedule begins in early May.