Anderson, McElhiney Taken in WNBA Draft 4/25/03

Vanderbilt’s Chantelle Anderson was the second pick in today’s WNBA’s annual draft while teammate Ashley McElhiney was a third round selection.

Anderson, who capped a brilliant four-year career as a two-time Kodak All-American, was chosen by the Sacramento Monarchs just after Mississippi State’s LaToya Thomas was picked by Cleveland to open the draft.

McElhiney, who graduated as the school’s career assists leader, was the 35th selection overall by the Indiana Fever. McElhiney also had a stellar Commodore career as a starter for three and a half seasons and a prominent member of two Elite Eight teams.

Anderson, a 6-6 center, rewrote much of the Vanderbilt record book. Her 2,604 career points established a new school scoring mark. Among her other highlights:

AP All-America Second Team (2003); Named a Top 20 finalist for the 2003 Naismith Award; All-SEC First Team (2003, 2002, 2001); All-SEC Second Team (2000); Led NCAA in field-goal percentage (.723) in 2000-01; Led SEC in field-goal percentage (.647) in 2001-02; NCAA Midwest Regional MVP (2002); SEC Tournament MVP (2001).

“I really had no idea if I’d be drafted or not.” Ashley said. “I didn’t care what number or round it would be, I just wanted the chance to go someplace and play. Today has been full of final exams so I haven’t had time to think about being drafted but I will be learning more about Indiana this weekend.”

McElhiney, a 5-6 guard, dished out 673 assists in her career. She led the SEC is assists as a sophomore, was a second team all-SEC selection as a junior and was a member of the Gold Medal winning 2001 U.S. World University Games team.