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Lady Bears Wallace selected in WNBA draft

Lady Bears Wallace selected in WNBA draft
Posted at 8:34 PM, Apr 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-12 21:34:34-04

The Atlanta Dream selected Baylor women’s basketball senior Kristy Wallace with the 16th overall pick in the second round of the 2018 WNBA Draft Thursday night.

“It’s a really exciting time,” Wallace said. “I’ve worked so hard to get to this moment and for it to happen is so awesome. I can’t wait to show them my game and learn from other professionals in the league. It’s so surreal that this happened.”

The Loganholme, Queensland, Australia, native is the 14th Lady Bear to be drafted all-time and the first-ever second round pick. Baylor has had a player chosen in the WNBA Draft in each of the last three years. All 14 draft picks have come during head coach Kim Mulkey’s tenure.

Wallace, who sustained a season-ending ACL injury to her left knee in the regular season finale, led the Lady Bears in assists with 155 on the season. She ranked fourth in the Big 12 in assists and 59th nationally in the category, despite playing in just 29 contests.

“I am honestly speechless,” Wallace said. “I’m so thankful and blessed. This year has been really tough in a lot of ways, but for this to happen, it’s just really phenomenal.”

Wallace averaged 12.9 points, 5.3 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game for Baylor. She secured WBCA All-America honorable mention accolades for the first time and was also unanimously named to the All-Big 12 first team for the first time.

The 5-11 guard, who was also named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team this year, was named espnW National Player of the Week on Jan. 29 after netting a career-high 27 points against No. 6/6 Texas and 25 points against No. 19/20 West Virginia.

Wallace is one of three players to distribute 500 career assists at Baylor. She led the Lady Bears in assists 20 times and scoring six times this season alone.

“I just want to say thank you to everyone at Baylor for having my back through the ups and downs,” Wallace said. “Being there for me and for the support, especially through my ACL injury. I’m just so thankful and so blessed to have my support group at Baylor and in Waco.”