The Dallas Wings acquired four players in the first round of the 2023 WNBA Draft tonight. The team selected Maddy Siegrist out of Villanova University with the third overall selection, Lou Lopez Senechal out of the University of Connecticut with the fifth overall selection and Abby Meyers out of University of Maryland with the 11th overall selection. The team selected Iowa State’s Ashley Joens with the 19th overall selection and Paige Robinson from Illinois State with the 31st overall selection.
In a trade with the Washington Mystics, the team also acquired the draft rights to Stephanie Soares in exchange for a 2024 Second Round Selection and Atlanta’s 2025 First Round Selection (acquired via trade)
Maddy Siegrist, a four-year starter at Villanova University, led the nation in scoring this year with 29.2 points per game. The three-time USBWA All-American and 2023 AP First-Team member became just the fifth player in Division I women’s basketball history to score 1,000 points in a single season and became the first Division I player, male or female, to record 37 consecutive 20-point games this past season, which breaks the previous record held Kelsey Plum. This past season she recorded 1,081 points, which are the second-most points ever recorded in Division I women’s basketball, only trailing Plum (1,109 points). She was a two-time Big East Player of the Year (2022 & 2023), four-time All-Big East First Team selection and 17-time Big East Player of the Week, which are the most selections in Big East history.
Siegrist finished her career on the Main Line with 2,896 points, which places her as the program’s all-time leading scorer as well as finishing as the Big East’s all-time leading scorer, for men and women, while finishing second in school history with 1,102 career rebounds. She recorded her career high in points this past season as she poured in 50 points (2/11/23 vs. Seton Hall) on 20-26 shooting, which set Villanova and Big East records for most points and field goals in a single game. Siegrist was named the 2023 Katrina McClain Award winner, as the best power forward in the country. The former Wildcat, who also won the Big East Freshman of the Year in 2019, averaged 24.3 points and 9.3 rebounds throughout her four-year career where she started 116 of the 119 games she appeared in and also recorded 55 double-doubles in her four-year career.
Stephanie Soares spent her first year with the Iowa State Cyclones in 2022-23 where she played in 13 games prior to being sidelined with a knee injury. During her stint with the Cyclones, Soares averaged 14.4 points and 9.9 rebounds while shooting 54.4% from the field and recording a double-double in eight of 13 contests. On January 4, Soares became the sixth player in Iowa State history to record a 20-rebound game vs. West Virginia. She represented Brazil at the 2022 FIBA South American Women’s Championship where she averaged 10.2 points and 6.6 rebounds and helped lead Brazil to a Gold Medal.
The 6’6 Sao Paulo, Brazil native earned many accolades in the NAIA at Master’s University before transferring to Iowa State her senior year. She was the 2020 and 2022 NAIA Division 1 Player of the Year and additionally was the WBCA NAIA Player of the Year in 2020 and 2022. Soares was also a three-time First-Team NAIA All-American, GSAC Player of the Year and GSAC Defensive Player of the Year (2019, 2020, 2022).
Lou Lopez Senechal, a guard for the University of Connecticut, totaled more than a third of her baskets in 2022-23 from three-point range, shooting 44% from deep. She averaged 15.5 points per game for the Huskies and scored in double figures in all but five games, highlighted by a 26-point performance against Tennessee (1/26/23), where she was 6-11 (54.5%) from the field, including 4-6 (66.7%) from beyond the arc.
Before transferring to UConn for her final year, the Grenoble, France native was recognized as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament (MAAC) Most Valuable Player in 2022 at Fairfield University after leading the Stags to the 2022 MAAC Championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Lopez Senechal was named the MAAC Player of the Year in 2021 and is a three-time All-MAAC First Team (2020, 2021 & 2022) honoree. She led Fairfield in scoring during her four years and averaged 19.5 points in her final year with the team in 2021-22.
Abby Meyers, the 2022 Ivy League Player of the year, took on the role of co-captain of the Maryland Terrapins in her first year with the team after transferring from Princeton. The Potomac, Maryland native recorded double-digit scoring figures in 28 of the team’s 35 games. She averaged 14.3 points per game and concluded her NCAA career recording 12.5 points per game. Meyers was named a 2022 All-American Honorable Mention and was most recently named to the 2023 All-Big Ten Second Team.
Ashley Joens concluded her five-year career with Iowa State ranked ninth all-time in NCAA Division I women’s basketball with 3,060 career points. She was named the Cheryl Miller Award Winner for the third straight season following her third season with more than 600 points. The award, given to the nation’s top small forward, was earned after a season that saw the Iowa City, Iowa native record the eighth most points in all of Division I women’s basketball in 2022-23 and become Iowa State’s all-time leading scorer. Her 21.6 points per game represent her fourth-straight season with an average scoring figure north of 20 points. Joens’ accolades include being named to the Unanimous All-Big 12 First Team in 2020, 2021 and 2022 as well as a WBCA All-American in 2021.
Paige Robinson, from Illinois State, started all 32 games she appeared in in 2022-23 and averaged 18.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3 rebounds, including a season-high 37-point performance against Wisconsin, where she was 14-19 from the field. Previously she spent four years at D-II Drury University and was a two-time All-American. In her final season, she was a First-Team All-Mid West Region and First Team All-Great Lakes Valley honoree, as she averaged 21.3 points and 3.2 assists.
