Stephanie Soares Selected By Washington in WNBA Draft
Iowa State center Stephanie Soares was taken by Washington in the first round of the 2023 WNBA Draft on Monday night, even though she may not play this season.
Soares didn’t spent much time with Washington. Less than 10 minutes after she was selected, she was traded to Dallas for a future draft pick.
Soares was one of two Cyclones invited to attend the WNBA Draft. The other was guard/forward Ashley Joens, who just wrapped up five seasons and became Iowa State’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder.
The Mystics took Soares No. 4 overall, the highest any Iowa State player has ever been selected.
Soares, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, started all 13 games in her only season with Iowa State before suffering a torn ACL against Oklahoma on Jan. 8. At the time of her injury, Soares was averaging 14.4 points and 9.9 rebounds, while shooting 54.4 percent from the field. She also averaged 3.0 blocks per game.
Soares transferred to Iowa State from The Master’s University, an NAIA school, where she was a two-time national player of the year.
Soares is unlikely to play this season due to the knee injury.
The Cyclones are coming off a season in which they won the Big 12 Tournament title for the first time in more than 20 seasons but lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Toledo.
Soares joins a group of more than a dozen Cyclones taken in the WNBA Draft, dating back to 2000. But she is just the second Cyclone to be taken in the first round, joining Alison Lacey, who was taken No. 10 overall in 2010 by the Seattle Storm. At the time, Lacey was the only player in ISU history and the seventh player in Big 12 history to record 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in a career.
Lacey is now the wife of current ISU men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger.
Other Cyclones drafted include Desirée Francis (2000, 2nd Round, 29th Overall, New York Liberty), Stacy Frese (2000, 3rd Round, 35th Overall, Utah Starzz), Megan Taylor (2001, 4th Round, 55th Overall, Minnesota Lynx), Angie Welle, (2002, 2nd Round, 31st Overall, Cleveland Rockers), Tracy Gahan (2002, 3rd Round, 46th Overall, Cleveland Rockers), Lindsey Wilson (2003, 3rd Round, 34th Overall, Connecticut Sun), Anne O’Neil (2005, 3rd Round, 30th Overall, Sacramento Monarchs), Lyndsey Medders (2007, 2nd Round, 22nd Overall, Indiana Fever), Kelsey Bolte (2011, 3rd Round, 32nd Overall – Atlanta Dream), Chelsea Poppens (2013, 2nd Round, 18th Overall, Seattle Storm), Anne Prins (2013, 2nd Round, 23rd Overall, Connecticut Sun), Nikki Moody (2015, 3rd Round, 33rd Overall, San Antonio Stars) and Bridget Carleton (2019, 2nd Round, 21st Overall, Connecticut Sun).
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