University of North Carolina Athletics
Breland, Lucas Selected In WNBA Draft
April 11, 2011 | Women's Basketball
April 11, 2011
STORRS, Conn. --- North Carolina seniors Jessica Breland and Italee Lucas became the 16th and 17th players in school history to be selected in the WNBA Draft Monday afternoon at the headquarters of ESPN. Breland was taken No. 13 overall by the Minnesota Lynx, while Lucas went No. 21 overall to the Tulsa Shock. Breland later saw her draft rights traded to the New York Liberty for No. 22 pick Angel Robinson of Marquette and a 2012 second round pick.
Breland was an honorable mention All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection in 2011 after averaging 12.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. The Kelford, N.C., product, who missed the 2009-10 season while receiving treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, established a new school record for career games played with 142 and finished her time in Chapel Hill with more than 1,500 points and 900 rebounds.
"We got exactly what we wanted in the draft today - quick, defensive-minded, athletic players that will serve as great complements to our already strong base of talented veterans," said Liberty head coach and general manager John Whisenant. "We are very excited about the players acquired today, following an Eastern Conference Finals appearance last season, we believe we took another step forward in assembling a team that can challenge for the WNBA Championship."
Lucas was a second-team All-ACC pick who averaged a team-best 16.2 points per game as a senior. One of the top three-point shooters in school history, the Las Vegas, Nev., native made 226 threes in her career and scored 1,703 points.
"I'm going to say she's a two or a three," Shock head coach and GM Nolan Richardson said of Lucas. "She's a scorer and attacker that can shoot the three. She's a tough little lady and she has some quickness. The draw fell our way a little bit, I think. She was a potential first rounder."
