NEW YORK – Five Big 12 players were selected in the 2025 WNBA Draft, the first time the league has had five players taken since 2021.
TCU’s Hailey Van Lith was chosen with the 11
th pick of the first round by the Chicago Sky, marking the eighth time in the last nine seasons that a Big 12 player has been selected in the first round and the first selection for TCU since Sandora Irvin in 2005.
K-State’s Serena Sundell (26
th overall pick) and West Virginia’s JJ Quinerly (27
th overall pick) went back-to-back to start the third round with Sundell selected by the Seattle Storm and Quinerly drafted by the Dallas Wings.
TCU’s Madison Conner (29
th overall pick) followed with the Seattle Storm taking the guard before Baylor’s Aaronette Vonleh was selected by the Dallas Wings with the 31
st overall pick.
Van Lith averaged 17.9 points with 5.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 45.2% from the field during the 2024-25 season. The
Big 12 Player and Newcomer of the Year guided the Horned Frogs to their first trip to the Elite Eight along with TCU’s first Big 12
regular and postseason titles in program history, claiming Most Outstanding Player honors at the
Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship. The NCAA record holder for career games started (172) and minutes played (5,692) ended the year as a unanimous All-American and TCU’s single-season record holder for points (680) and assists (204).
Sundell finished her college career with honorable mention All-America honors from the Associated Press and WBCA while taking the Wildcats to the
Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002. The guard from Maryville, Missouri was a two-time All-Big 12 First Team selection and leaves Manhattan as the K-State record holder for career games played/started (139) and assists (811). Sundell is the first player in Conference history since at least 1999-2000 to register 1,700 or more points and 800 or more assists and is the first Wildcat drafted since Breanna Lewis in 2017.
Quinerly was listed as an AP and WBCA Honorable Mention All-American and was chosen as a finalist for the Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year. The guard from Norfolk, Virginia became the first league player to be named the Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons in six years and finished her career as a Mountaineer with the sixth-most career steals in Big 12 history (328). Quinerly is WVU’s first draft pick since Kysre Gondrezick in 2021.
Conner finished the 2024-25 season as an All-Big 12 First Team selection and as TCU’s single-season 3-point record holder (128), finishing just three shy of matching the league record. The native of Chandler, Arizona was an Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Top 10 finalist and holds the NCAA record for most 3-pointers in a 10-game stretch to begin a season (52). Conner helped TCU set a school record for total wins (34) while the Horned Frogs’ 26-win improvement over two seasons is the largest of any Power Conference team.
Vonleh led Baylor to a second-place finish in the league standings while earning Second Team All-Big 12 Honors. The center from West Linn, Oregon started all 36 games during the year and scored double-figures in 27 games while averaging 14.9 points per game with a 58.5 field goal percentage. Vonleh is the first Bear drafted since Baylor had three selections in 2022.
A total of 140 Big 12 players have selected in the 29-year history of the professional league, including at least three in 21 of the last 22 seasons.
The
2025 WNBA season begins with preseason play on Friday, May 2 while the regular season tips off Friday, May 16.
2025 WNBA Draft
First Round
11. Hailey Van Lith, TCU – Chicago Sky
Third Round
26. Serena Sundell, K-State - Seattle Storm
27. JJ Quinerly, West Virginia – Dallas Wings
29. Madison Conner, TCU – Seattle Storm
31. Aaronette Vonleh, Baylor – Dallas Wings
Number is the overall pick for the entire draft.