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Duke's Currie Goes Third in Draft: Five Area Players to Continue in WNBA

Posted on: Thursday, 6 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Bob Sutton, Times-News, Burlington, N.C.

Apr. 6--Duke's Monique Currie, just hours after a devastating loss in the NCAA championship game, was the third overall selection in Wednesday's WNBA Draft by the Charlotte Sting.

La'Tangela Atkinson of North Carolina, Mistie Williams of Duke, Jessica Foley of Duke and Tiffany Stansbury of North Carolina State also were drafted.

Currie, a guard/forward, could have gone to the WNBA last year, but opted to play as a fifth-year senior. She was denied her goal of winning playing on a national championship team when Maryland defeated Duke 78-75 in overtime Tuesday night in the tournament final.

Atkinson, who attended the draft in Boston, was picked ninth overall by the Indiana Fever. She's considered a defensive specialist at forward. She averaged 9.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game as a senior. She's the first ACC player with more than 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 350 assists in her career.

"She has not been a big scorer in college, but having watched her over time, I think she has good technique and is someone that can become a fine player in the WNBA," Fever coach Brian Winters said. "If she is the good teammate and hard worker that I think she is, we think she can be someone special." Former North Carolina guard Coretta Brown plays for the Fever and North Carolina assistant coach Charlotte Smith-Taylor signed with the Fever as a free agent in the offseason.

Later Wednesday, the Fever selected Foley, a guard, with the 38th overall selection.

Williams, a post player, was selected by Phoenix in the second round with the 21st overall pick. Then, she was part of draft-day trade, going to the Houston Comets.

Houston picked Stansbury with the 29th overall selection (and the first pick of the third round). Stansbury, a center, is the first WNBA draftee from N.C. State since Kaayla Chones in 2004.

In two seasons with N.C. State, Stansbury averaged 11.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Times-News, Burlington, N.C.

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Source: Times-News

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