Maryland’s Kristi Toliver and Connecticut’s Renee Montgomery spoke shortly before Thursday’s WNBA draft. The point guards figured one of them was going to be playing in Chicago.
“I think I got the best end of the deal,” said Toliver, a 5-foot-7-inch point guard.
So does the Sky.
The Sky used its first-round pick, No. 3 overall, to take the quick, high-scoring Toliver.
With Toliver, last season’s No. 2 overall pick center Sylvia Fowles and forward Candice Dupree, the Sky might be in position to make its first playoff appearance.
“We’re going to do a good job of transferring [potential] from paper to the court to results,” coach and general manager Steven Key said.
Toliver averaged 18.4 points per game, while shooting 44.3 percent from the field. She connected on 42.3 percent of her three-pointers, another deficiency for the Sky.
“I know they want to get up and down; I know they love to run,” Toliver said. “I’m just really excited, and I think we’ll work really well together.”
Filling the void at point guard could be the missing piece to help the team move past last season’s 12-22 record.
“It will give us a lot more depth, which is something we didn’t have last year,” Key said. Toliver was selected after the Atlanta Dream picked Louisville forward Angel McCoughtry with the top overall pick and the Washington Mystics took Toliver’s college teammate, Marrisa Coleman with the second overall pick.
The Minnesota Lynx selected Montgomery from the national champion Huskies with the fourth pick.
The Sky took wing player Danielle Gant out of Texas A&M in the second round with the 16th pick and guard Jennifer Risper out of Vanderbilt in the third round with the 29th pick.
Gant, a 5-11 forward, averaged 13.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game for the Aggies this season. Risper, a 5-9 guard, was named to the Southeastern Conference all-defensive team last season and averaged 8.6 points per game this season.
